The Key to The End
by x Varda x
Summary: Complete! A series of painful and dangerous malfunctions begin to affect the inhabitants of Atlantis. Is it just random or is something more sinister and deadly going on?
1. The Beginning

Disclaimer - "Stargate" and all related characters are the property of MGM Television Entertainment

Set in Season 3 - No specific references or spoilers for any episodes

Rating - T

Characters - Team involvement throughout, but main focus will be on McKay as he's my favourite!

**Chapter 1 – The Beginning**

The sound cut through his unconscious mind like a buzz saw.

The noise grew and grew as his brain woke up. It built to such a level that he could no longer take it.

Leaning across from the bed, Sheppard flicked off the alarm clock and checked the time; 6am.

_Okay_, he thought as he rolled out of bed and sat on the edge rubbing his face, _Tuesday morning. Training, breakfast, briefing._ He checked off the list in his head as he sleepily stumbled over to the bathroom.

He quickly showered and pulled on some clothes. He tucked his radio headset behind his ear and walked over to the door.

Sheppard reached out his hand to swipe it over the control crystals and open it, as he did many times every day on Atlantis. His hand was about an inch away from the panel when it was hit by a powerful and painful blast of energy.

He cried out in surprise as he was thrown away from the door. His back hit the edge of the bed and he crumpled to the floor.

"What the hell?" He muttered, cradling his burnt hand and feeling a bruise forming across the back of his ribcage.

He closed his eyes and pushed himself upright. He staggered slightly so he sat down heavily on the bed.

He eyed the control panel and frowned in disgust. It looked so innocent. There was no indication that it had just attacked him. There were no burn marks nor was there any visible field around the device.

Sheppard narrowed his eyes and walked tentatively back towards the door. As he drew up, he stopped a short distance away and examined the crystals more closely.

Gingerly, he brought the fingertips of his undamaged hand up and moved them very slowly towards the offending control panel.

When his hand was close, another bolt of energy struck him, "Damn it!" He said as he burnt his other hand. As he had been moving more carefully this time, he had not been thrown back.

He backed away from the door and sat on the bed again. He reached up and winced as he tapped his radio, "Sheppard to McKay." His voice was impatient and angry. He had not meant for it to come out like that.

"_What?"_ Snapped the reply in his ear. Sheppard was not really surprised; McKay was usually annoyed and his tone had probably done nothing to calm the scientist. However it was strange to get such a quick reply at this hour.

"Uh…I'm stuck in my room. The door panel keeps zapping me when I try to get out."

"_Oh, not another one!"_ McKay sounded more irate than usual.

Sheppard frowned, "What do you mean by 'another one?'"

"_Fifth one this morning,"_ he replied, Sheppard thought it sounded like he was speaking through gritted teeth, like something more than the door problem was paining him.

"_I'll just finish up here and be over in a couple of minutes. Uh…sit tight."_

_Like there's anywhere else I could go!_ Sheppard thought, but he just replied, "Acknowledged."

Sheppard turned his burnt hands over as he studied them and grimaced. The skin was red and angry and in some places there were painful blisters forming. An early morning trip to the infirmary would be in order when he was freed. Not a very good start to the day.

He walked over to the bathroom and ran some cold water over his hands to soothe them. He felt them going numb under the running tap and he sighed in relief as the smarting pain faded away.

After a couple of minutes his radio activated, _"Sheppard?"_

"Go ahead Rodney."

"_I'm just fixing your door now. Don't touch the door or control panel. In fact, don't even get close to them."_

"Now you tell me," Sheppard said slowly in reply, studying his reflection in the mirror above the sink. "Who were the other four people you had to rescue?"

He heard a soft sigh over the radio, _"Just some of your people. I think they were upset about being late for your torture session."_

Sheppard frowned and then grinned, "Oh, you mean the morning run?"

"_If that's what you would call it. To me it feels more like the middle of the night."_

"Well, they needn't worry as I'm late too."

There was the sound of a sharp intake of breath, _"Ow, damn it!"_ Rodney mumbled. Sheppard thought it sounded like there was something in McKay's mouth.

"What's wrong?"

"_Little zapper just got me again!"_ Rodney replied angrily and took a deep shuddering breath. _"The only way I can release the door is to turn off the power. And the only way to do that is by cutting the conduit in the wall next to each malfunctioning control panel. Just got a little bit too close to it. Again."_

"You're alright though are you?"

_"Not really. I learnt it the hard way the first time. Thought it was going to kill me."_

Sheppard grimaced as the water continued to flow over his damaged hands and the bruises on his back ached, "Yes, I got zapped by it too."

"_Okay, I think I'm done,"_ Rodney said, _"Of course, cutting the power conduit means that we now have to open the door manually."_

Sheppard pulled his hands out of the sink and turned the tap off, "Hang on, I'll be over in a minute." He let the water drip off his hands and walked over to the door.

He approached slowly with his less damaged hand out in front, just in case.

He reached the door without incident and leaned against it. He used his shoulder to push it sideways.

Rodney was already prying the door open from the other side. Sheppard could hear his straining breaths over the radio and soon he heard them right in front of him as the door parted in the middle.

Lots of huffing and shoving followed and they soon had the it open.

Sheppard raised his eyes and looked at Rodney. His eyebrows quickly shot up as he took in the scientist's appearance.

"You look like hell McKay," Sheppard said.

"Is that your way of saying, 'Thanks Rodney for letting me out of my room. I'd have had to forfeit the run _and_ breakfast without you on the other end of my radio at all hours of every day.'"

Sheppard grinned, "_Thanks_ Rodney, but I think we both need a trip to the infirmary."

Rodney looked dead on his feet. He had a permanent grimace on his face and rested a hand on his stomach. His hands themselves were roughly bandaged. Sheppard thought it looked like he had done it himself, like running repairs on the fly. A tablet and a small tool kit were abandoned on the floor underneath the outer crystal panel to Sheppard's quarters. Just to the right of the device there was a wall panel missing. Inside the wall some wires had been pulled down and cut.

Sheppard marvelled that Rodney had not killed himself cutting into the power conduit wires like that.

McKay walked over to the toolkit and closed his eyes in pain as he crouched down and gathered up the kit. Sheppard rushed over to help, but when he got there Rodney had already finished and was scooping up the tablet in his damaged hands. He straightened up and winced, pressing a forearm on his midsection. He leaned back heavily against the wall and closed his eyes.

"Hey, what happened to you?" Sheppard said, putting a hand on Rodney's shoulder and grabbing the toolkit. McKay did not protest, even as Sheppard himself shuddered a little as the feeling came back into his burnt hand as it curled around the handle of the case.

Rodney sighed and looked at Sheppard from his doubled up position, "Let's just say I now have yet more definitive proof that humans can't fly."

Sheppard pulled him away from the wall and supported him until he got his balance.

Rodney had the tablet tucked under his arm and held both hands out in front of himself like he had just finished pulling on rubber gloves and was examining them. His mouth was turned down in pain and he furrowed his brow and breathed through gritted teeth as he tried to straighten up.

Sheppard frowned, "Come on. Infirmary."

He was just guiding Rodney down the hallway slowly towards the transporter when Rodney stood up straight and alert. He winced again, "McKay here…what? Another one, where?…I'll be right there."

Sheppard spun Rodney around to face him, "Hey, get Zelenka to look at this one, okay? Just tell him what to do."

McKay looked back at him defiantly, "No, I'll go. Wouldn't want to interrupt sleeping beauty this early in the morning."

"Don't make me order you," Sheppard said narrowing his eyes, "You're obviously hurt, and I think you've had your fair share of zapping door panels for one morning."

Rodney opened his mouth to protest, but never managed to speak as suddenly both their radios activated.

_"Teyla to Colonel Sheppard and Dr McKay,"_ her voice sounded strained and it kept chopping out in between a loud roaring noise in the background.

Sheppard reached up and tapped his own radio, "Sheppard here. Go ahead."

_"Colonel, I require your assistance and Dr McKay's too, if he is there."_

It was very difficult to make out Teyla's words and Sheppard had to turn down the volume on his radio to hear her clearly.

Rodney replied, "Yes I'm here," then he muttered, "Rather be asleep right now though."

Sheppard grinned, "You're not stuck in your room are you? Have your door and control panel become…shocking?"

Rodney grimaced and rested his forearm on his stomach again while he held his other damaged hand out in front of his face. The tablet had almost slid from under his arm. Sheppard quickly reached forward and cursed his painful hands as he grabbed it.

Teyla's breathless reply came over their radios,_ "No, John. However I _am _stuck and require your immediate assistance."_

Rodney frowned at Sheppard and said, "Looks like Carson'll have to wait a little longer to poke and prod us."

McKay radioed Zelenka and grudgingly asked him to get a team together to release trapped people from their rooms if any more called in.

He was glad he did, because as soon as they left the transporter and began walking towards Teyla's quarters, another three frantic people radioed him with stories of electrocuting doors and control panels. He allowed himself a tight and grim smile as he redirected them to Zelenka for help.

--

TBC

As always I will be eternally grateful for all feedback received (good or bad). Thanks! x Varda x


	2. Burst

Thank you to my loyal and kind readers for the reviews.

(Also I haven't given up on "Puddle Jumper Mayhem" I intend to keep posting new ones while I write this)

**Chapter 2 – Burst**

Teyla opened her eyes and drew in a deep and satisfying breath. Yawning widely she rolled out of bed and padded over to the window of her quarters in bare feet.

She had heard Sheppard and the other humans from Earth talking about objects they called 'alarm clocks.' Teyla had raised her eyebrows and stared incredulously as their function was explained. It had been a couple of years ago, but she still did not understand why people needed a loud and blaring noise to tear them from sleep. She preferred to wake up naturally rather than traumatised first thing in the morning.

She looked out of the window and across to the distant and sunlit piers of Atlantis. The early morning light cast deep shadows across the buildings. Teyla smiled as she glanced up at the clear blue sky.

She walked back across the room and checked her watch; 7.30am. _Perfect_, she thought, _half an hour until breakfast._

She went into the bathroom and sighed as she looked at the shower. Yet another of Earth's customs she was becoming used to, along with numbering every hour and minute of the day. She sometimes felt guilty at the luxurious life she had in Atlantis, while the rest of her people lived in tents and washed in river water. She always had to shake herself away from her feelings by reassuring herself that she was doing a great service for her own people as well as the Pegasus Galaxy. The amenities she had grown accustomed to were her reward.

Teyla had noted that none of the other humans, except for Ronon, ever mentioned the showers. When she had discussed this with Sheppard, he told her that a lot of the people back on Earth had them and took it for granted. When Teyla had asked him to clarify what he meant by 'a lot' of them, Sheppard had become oddly silent and looked sad.

Teyla saw a frown on her face when she looked up into the mirror, as the memory of the conversation played out in her mind.

She slipped out of her clothes and carefully walked over to the shower cubicle. She intended to run it for a moment to check the temperature was right before stepping in.

Teyla reached across and pressed the control panel.

Nothing happened. She frowned and tried the panel a couple more times. On the third attempt there was a sputtering sound from the pipe behind the wall. Teyla backed away in fright.

The noise increased into a series of juddering bangs. This was followed by a creaking sound and suddenly the wall exploded outwards in a deafening rain of debris and boiling steam.

Teyla cried out as the scalding water hit her. She quickly did a combat roll across the floor and out of the way of the painful jet spurting from the wall in the bathroom.

She covered her ears and coughed as she had taken a good lungful of the horrendous water before she realised what was happening.

She looked down at herself. She saw that her skin was red in some places and it stung madly. It felt like severe sunburn.

Teyla looked across the bathroom, back into her quarters. It was difficult to see and the hissing noise from the burst pipe was oppressive. She crawled across the floor and into the bedroom.

She had hoped that she would have been able to escape from her quarters or at least get away from the worst of the heat, but she found herself behind the veil of boiling fog which was streaming out of the bathroom across her quarters.

She valiantly tried to crawl over to the door, but the pain became too much as she got closer to the centre of the room.

Instead she crawled back and grabbed her radio from the table beside her bed. Pinning it behind her ear, she covered her other ear and slumped down onto the floor by the window.

"Teyla to Colonel Sheppard and Dr McKay," she said, feeling a little ridiculous at her predicament.

"_Sheppard here. Go ahead."_

She was relieved when she heard his voice, but truly believed that it would be Rodney who would be able to stop the water. She was confident he would be able to free her from the rapidly heating corner of her quarters where she had become trapped.

"Colonel, I require your assistance and Dr McKay's too, if he is there."

Rodney replied, _"Yes I'm here,"_ the next sentence was almost inaudible to Teyla, _"Rather be asleep right now though."_

Teyla laughed softly at his comment, but the sound was lost in the hissing and roaring of the burst pipe.

Sheppard spoke next, _"You're not stuck in your room are you? Have your door and control panel become…shocking?"_

Teyla frowned. It sounded like a knowing joke, but she did not understand it. She sighed, "No, John. However I _am_ stuck and require your immediate assistance."

She took in shallow breaths while she waited. The heat continued to grow and was very soon stifling and unbearable. She looked down and studied her form again and then her eyes widened in realisation.

She was still naked!

She did not mind, but was sure that Rodney would be very uncomfortable and awkward about it. She doubted he would ever be able to look her in the eye or talk to her properly again. Sheppard probably would not think much of it; they were all team mates and friends after all. However, she knew she would receive a certain kind of 'look' from him for many weeks afterwards, which she would rather avoid if possible.

Teyla quickly reached across and grabbed the sheet from her bed. Wrapping it around herself just in time as she saw the outer door in her quarters opening.

* * *

Sheppard and McKay walked towards Teyla's quarters. There was a hissing and roaring noise, which increased in volume as they got closer.

Sheppard asked, "Does Dr Weir know about the door malfunctions?"

Rodney replied, "I told her after the third one. Of course I tried to fix the problem from my lab first, but for some reason the system did not recognise any of the commands." He frowned. "I tried so many things. I even tried cutting the power to the affected sections, but nothing worked. I had to devise a manual fix to physically cut the power."

Rodney had already rescued his toolkit and tablet from Sheppard's sore hands into his bandaged ones.

Sheppard now had his burnt hands out in front of himself, even as Rodney had done earlier, to prevent brushing them against his sides accidentally as he walked.

As they got closer to the door to Teyla's quarters the sound was so loud they could no longer speak. Rodney put his tablet and toolkit down on the floor next to the wall a few paces away from the door.

They both stood still in the corridor and hesitated to get any closer, just in case this door was going to shock and burn their damaged hands again.

Sheppard and McKay looked at each other. Teyla was in some kind of trouble, even though her calm voice would not betray her over the radio.

Sheppard sighed and rolled his eyes as he stepped up to the door. His back still reminding him of the first time he tried to get out of his quarters that morning.

He closed his eyes and waited for the painful jolt. But it did not come. When he opened his eyes again his hand was resting on the control panel.

Rodney, emboldened by Sheppard's success, quickly walked over and popped off the panel. He rearranged the crystals and the door opened.

Both Sheppard and McKay staggered backwards as a column of scalding steam collapsed and rolled out of the door into them. The noise, which had previously been too loud to talk, now increased tenfold and almost made thinking impossible.

They coughed as they both inhaled a lungful of the heated fog.

"Teyla!?" Sheppard shouted painfully above the intensified hissing sound. He tried to move to get inside, but was forced back by the water filled air as it scalded him.

Rodney had backed right up and retrieved his tablet. He was studying a schematic of the water distribution network to Teyla's quarters. He frowned and began typing quickly, calling up different screens and programming code.

Sheppard looked over at him his face twisted in worry. Teyla was trapped somewhere in the midst of the cloud.

Rodney pointed up at his radio and then down the corridor. Sheppard narrowed his eyes and nodded.

Rodney stood up and placed a hand firmly on his stomach once again. He then ran back up along the corridor away from Teyla's quarters.

When he was a good distance away from the noise, he reached up and tapped his radio, "McKay to Zelenka."

The Czech scientist answered, he sounded more irate than usual, _"We're a little busy Rodney, but go ahead."_

"Are you anywhere near the science lab?"

"_No, I had to split the team up into groups of two. There are so many people trapped. It is impossible…"_ he trailed off, speaking in Czech.

Rodney rolled his eyes, "Who did you leave in charge?"

"Matt Perkins. Listen Rodney can you call me back later, only I'm trying to free someone due off-world in half an hour."

"Uh…Sure. Thanks and," he smiled, "Good luck." At least he was not getting shocked anymore. Although the scalding steam he had just inhaled kept catching in his throat and promised a coughing fit later in the day.

He grimaced as he tapped his radio again, "McKay to Perkins."

A quiet voice answered slowly, _"Go ahead Sir."_

Rodney closed his eyes and listened with all his might to try and make out the man's words above the loud noise echoing down the corridor.

"There's a burst hot water pipe in Teyla's quarters. I've created a program to shut off power to the pipe in this tower, but I need you to upload it onto the Atlantis computer. I'm sending it to you now."

It took a long time for the reply to come, again it was very tentative, _"I have it. I'll just put it in now."_

Rodney gritted his teeth at how slowly he knew Perkins usually worked. Every code was painstakingly churned out and checked. It took Perkins a whole day to complete as much work as Rodney could accomplish in a few minutes.

"Hurry it up Perkins. Teyla's in trouble and we don't have time for you to take a nap before you finish."

There was no reply for another agonising minute.

Before the voice came over his headset again, Rodney already knew that it had worked. The loud noise diminished to a low hiss.

_"Okay I've done it."_

"Hmm, next time spend more time working rather than calculating how much time is left until your shift ends."

"_Yes Sir,"_ came the dejected reply.

McKay sighed deeply and coughed as he walked back towards Sheppard along the corridor.

As he rounded the corner Rodney smiled when he saw Teyla leaning against Sheppard. She was wrapped up in a damp, loose sheet and was hugging some clothes to her chest. Her hair was drenched and hung limply as it clung to her face and neck. Her face was also highly flushed from being scalded by the hot water.

Sheppard grinned and waved as Rodney approached, "You did it. Although the water is still hissing out, I was able to go in and rescue Teyla."

"Hmm," he replied, "Would have been faster if it were not for my extremely slow underlings."

Sheppard frowned, "Come on. Let's get to the infirmary."

Rodney had drawn up level with them when his radio buzzed, _"Weir to McKay."_

She sounded alarmed, "What?" Rodney replied rolling his eyes and gritting his teeth.

_"I've just received reports from several people in the area where you currently are that water pipes have been exploding and flooding people's quarters with hot steam."_

He furrowed his brow and closed his eyes, "I thought it was just Teyla's quarters."

_"It was until about a minute ago."_

McKay spoke hotly, "Of all the useless and incompetent people on the base…"

_"It wasn't Dr Perkins. He just told me what happened. It seems that the system didn't take kindly to your patch. The entire pipe has become dangerously pressurised."_

Rodney frowned, "But the program was designed to cut off the water supply to the whole run."

Sheppard said, "Well, obviously it didn't work. Perhaps you need to shut it off manually, like with the doors."

McKay folded his arms across his chest and quickly thought twice about it. He winced as he crushed one of his burnt hands under his arm. "Because I enjoy wrecking Ancient systems as much as I like fixing things," he snapped. "When I figure out what's going on, it'll take a long time to repair everything."

Weir spoke again, _"Whatever you decide to do, it'll have to be fast as the pressure is continuing to build."_

Sheppard answered grimly, "Rodney, shut it off manually. I need to take Teyla to the infirmary. Do what you have to do."

"_And hurry,"_ Weir said.

Sheppard walked away from Rodney towards the transporter. McKay shot Sheppard and Teyla's retreating backs a wistful look. With his bruises and sore hands he would much rather be going with them than saving the city again.

Sighing deeply, he grabbed his toolkit and stalked off towards the transporter to the water control room.

* * *

TBC

A/N - This was the first time I have ever written from Teyla's POV. Please let me know what you thought. Thanks! x Varda x


	3. Water Control Room

Thanks again for the reviews (blush) and you're all absolutely right. This _is_ only the beginning…

**Chapter 3 – Water Control Room**

**1200am (8 hours earlier…)**

McKay sat with his eyes closed at his desk in the science lab on Atlantis kneading his forehead with his fingertips. Scattered across the desk in front of him were various and assorted Ancient knick-knacks and doodads brought back by an off-world team earlier that day.

His team had quickly sorted the items they recognised. There were a few scanners and crystals, which had been carefully labelled and packed away into storage crates for when they were needed.

Dr Robert Newall, the scientist who had gone on the mission, reported they had found an Ancient lab on the planet, lovingly labelled P3X-778. The lab had been surrounded by thick jungle, but was still in fairly good condition. There had been no power, but as far as he had said, the Ancients had stripped out anything of use and left behind only a few small pieces of technology. Dr Newall had scooped up most of it and packed it into his rucksack for analysis back on Atlantis.

Dr Newall had said goodnight to Rodney at 11pm and quickly snuck out of the lab before McKay could regain his focus with a jibe about the lack of commitment from his staff.

Rodney was tired, but he still had work to do to find out what the devices were. He had already tested them without touching them to see whether they had any power. The ones with power he had asked one of the other scientists who did not have the ATA gene to remove them from his sight. He did not wish to activate anything dangerous.

At 1am he sipped at his coffee and turned a small device over in his hand. It was a cylinder about the length of his hand and had intricate patterns all around it. He sighed as nothing happened when he poked and prodded at the dark brown object. _For all I know it's probably the Ancient's version of a toilet roll holder_, he thought.

He rolled his eyes and sighed in disgust and put his coffee mug down. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and stuck the object in a slot in the crate next to the desk. He noted the number and entered the data on his laptop.

He did not notice what time it was when his eyes drooped down slowly nor when he fell asleep.

* * *

**0800am (Present)**

Rodney trotted along the corridor after he left the transporter. His bruised abdomen jarred and made him wince with every step.

He noticed that the floor was becoming damper as he approached the Water Control Room. He was now beneath the waterline deep in the basement of Atlantis. His science team had managed to drain this section of the city to make sure they always had access to the room in case anything went wrong.

Like it had now.

He slowed down as his feet began slipping on the slick floor. The sudden wrenching sent another spasm around his torso, so he pressed his forearm against himself to try and minimise the pain. As he rounded the corner he sighed in relief. Ronon was standing leaning against the wall near the door to the room. He lifted up his hand and held out a power bar.

Rodney grabbed it when he skidded to a halt in front of Ronon, "Thanks!" He said, sounding genuinely grateful for the first time that day.

"S'okay," Ronon said gruffly, "Sheppard told me there were some problems with the doors and now the pipes. Said you might need help."

Ronon shrugged as he spoke and watched Rodney as he tore the wrapper off the bar and started to eat.

McKay was still chewing as he swiped his hand over the control panel to the door and flinched when he realised retrospectively that he had been lucky the panel had not been electrified.

He went into the room, followed closely by Ronon.

Ronon noticed that Rodney was moving gingerly and was holding his toolkit awkwardly across himself like he was hurt. His pale face and bandaged hands were not lost on Ronon either.

"You alright McKay?" He asked quietly.

"What?" came the mumbled reply through a mouthful of food.

He had obviously not heard above the noise in the room as they walked inside. Ronon patted Rodney's shoulder gently. The scientist was a man on a mission and no amount of hurt would be able to stop him at the moment.

The Water Control Room was round and about the same size as the Gateroom; unusual for a room this low down in the city. However, thick pipes obscured most of the walls and there were much thicker pipes in the centre of the room. A large control panel was imbedded in the wall in a small gap in the pipes on the opposite side of the room to the door. The room usually reflected the Ancient principal of functionality intertwined with beauty.

This morning though it was more like a water park gone wrong.

Water was leaking out of several of the pipes and flooding across the floor. Fortunately the Ancients had had the foresight to install drains in the floor, but they were struggling to cope under the deluge. As such, there were several inches of water slopping around Rodney and Ronon's feet, drenching their shoes and soaking their feet.

Rodney could already see the malfunctioning pipe. There were several holes and water was hissing out across the room.

He went around the other side of the central pipes to avoid the scalding leak. He plugged his computer into the control console and tried to fix the problem.

Ronon stood eyeing the pipes cautiously. "What's going on in here?" He asked.

Rodney gritted his teeth and frowned as he studied the data on his tablet. He had dropped the toolkit on the floor while he worked. He shuddered as cold water flowed over his feet. "I don't know yet. It doesn't make any sense! According to these readings there's nothing wrong with the pipes. The Ancient code is flawless. The patch uploaded to the system should be working and shutting down the faulty ones."

Ronon looked around the room. He had only been in there a once before. That had been when Sheppard gave him what he had called the 'grand tour.' Otherwise there was no reason for him to go in there. He left it to the science team if anything went wrong.

He studied the pipes closely and noted there were levers and handles on them, which could probably be manipulated manually.

"If you can't fix it, why don't we just turn them off by hand?"

Rodney huffed and looked at Ronon in annoyance, "I'd rather find a way to decrease the pressure than resort to cutting the water supply to sections of the city."

As he spoke a few loud bangs erupted from the straining hot water pipe as the pressure increased. More holes formed and the scalding water flowed out freely and over the floor towards them.

Rodney stepped back, his eyes wide in alarm. They were both alright though as the cooler water from the other leaking pipes diluted the heat and it was just warm as it washed over Rodney and Ronon's feet.

"McKay!" Ronon shouted above the din, "Fix it later! We need to stop it now!"

Rodney had no argument with that. He unplugged his tablet and followed Ronon.

McKay leaned over to examine the levers and cranks on the offending pipe. They both ducked around the jets of hot water as it escaped from the holes it had created. He studied his laptop and quickly memorised the correct shut down sequence for the water supply.

He tucked his laptop under his arm and reached across. Ignoring his sore hands, he grabbed a large lever at waist height and began to tug at it. He was not able to budge it an inch so he yanked it with all his might trying to force it to move. He cried out as his bruised stomach muscles contracted painfully. Ronon caught him as he tipped sideways with his brow furrowed and he clamped both his arms tightly around his midsection.

Ronon frowned down at him, "What the hell happened to you?"

* * *

**0500am (3 hours earlier…)**

"Uh…Sir?"

The small voice filtered into his fuzz-filled brain and stirred the tiny ever-burning candle of annoyance he had in his mind.

"Sir? Have you been here all night?"

The flame grew inside him and he felt himself frown as he opened his eyes.

Rodney ran his tongue over his dry teeth and sat up in his chair. He quickly wiped the corner of his mouth and focused his eyes on the source of his rude awakening.

"Perkins," he croaked. He blinked a few times to clear the sleep from his eyes and gagged a little when he saw the half finished and stone cold coffee from the previous evening. How long had he stayed awake? What time did his body slump forward onto the desk and guarantee a nasty red patch and a stiff neck when he woke up the next day? He did not remember.

"Are you alright Sir?" Dr Perkins asked quietly. The man was wringing his hands together nervously, like he was poking a sleeping dragon.

"Yes yes yes," Rodney snapped looking around the science lab. There were still Ancient artefacts awaiting analysis on many of the desks. His eyes stopped when he saw another scientist in the lab.

Dr Perkins turned around to look at her now that Rodney was finally awake. She had a look of encouragement and admiration in her eyes as she looked at Dr Perkins. He smiled timidly and went over to sit next to her.

McKay sighed and rolled his eyes as he stood up on shaky and numb legs. He grabbed the edge of the desk to steady himself. He walked slowly over to the two scientists who were smirking at each other and said furiously, "We have lots of work to do people. You," he pointed at the woman, "Catalogue that stuff over there," he pointed to the desk he had used to sleep. He rounded on Perkins, "And you, go to the other lab and continue on the stuff with energy readings."

"But Sir, Dr Li and I were going to work together today," Perkins said sadly.

Rodney frowned at him, "You'll get more work done separately. If you need someone to hold your hand though, I could ask one of the marines to come down." He looked off to the side and muttered, "Not sure if Sheppard would be happy about it though."

Li and Perkins glared daggers at him and made no indication that they were going to move.

Rodney clapped his hands together loudly, making them both jump, "Chop chop! Get to work people."

He swept out of the room and stalked along the corridor intending to head back to his quarters and sort himself out.

He was halfway up the corridor when his radio buzzed_, "Corporal Murphy to McKay."_

Rodney huffed and tapped his radio, "Go ahead."

"_Uh…Sir, there's something wrong with my door. I can't get out of my room."_

Rodney rolled his eyes as the Corporal continued, _"Only I don't want to be late for Colonel Sheppard's training session. Figured I could get a few rounds in at the target practice beforehand. You know how he is Sir, if I'm late he'll have me running laps around Atlantis for the rest of the day."_

McKay shuddered at the thought, "Okay, tell me your location and I'll come and have a look."

Rodney went back to the science lab and grabbed a toolkit and tablet before heading to the transporter. He noted with savage satisfaction that Dr Li and Dr Perkins had done as he told them and now sat hunched over the Ancient devices in the separate labs.

A few minutes later, McKay rounded the corner and arrived at the Corporal's quarters. He put his gear down against the wall and stepped up to the door. Keeping a fair distance he swiped his hand over the control panel.

Nothing happened, but his brain was still clouded in sleep and a little bit of anger at his subordinates for the joke they had shared at his expense. Of course the door would not open, because it was encoded to the Corporal.

Sighing deeply, Rodney stepped across and reached up with both hands to pry off the control panel and access the crystals within.

He was not sure exactly what happened next. One moment he was touching the panel and the next thing he knew the corridor was spinning past him in an uncontrollable and frightening way.

The arc of energy which hit his hands threw him back and he twisted round as he flew and slammed sideways into a pillar in the corridor.

Rodney fell down and lay on his side on the floor, completely winded and curled up with his eyes screwed tightly shut.

After a few agonising moments he was able to breathe again. He gasped and grimaced as he felt a large bruise spreading across his midsection where he had hit the pillar.

He considered trying to get up and put his hands on the floor to steady himself. He whimpered as it felt like he had just put his hands on thousands of tiny sharp knives. He drew his shaking hands up level with his face and frowned at how red and blistered they were.

Instead, he used his elbows for leverage and forced himself to his feet. Rubbing a forearm on his sore stomach, he stumbled over to the door and stopped a few feet away.

Reaching up, Rodney winced as he tapped his radio, "McKay to Murphy."

"_Murphy here."_

"You could've told me about the energy build up, Corporal. I just got a shock that nearly sent me into next week."

"_I'm sorry Sir. I didn't know. I just can't get out of my room."_

"Okay, whatever. Anyway I've got to go and find something to wrap up my severely burnt hands. I'll be back in a minute."

Rodney leaned forward and put his forearm on his midsection as he walked away to hunt for the nearest first aid kit.

As he searched, two more people radioed him that they were trapped in their quarters.

_Oh yes_, he thought, _This is going to be a long day._

* * *

**0815am (Present)**

Ronon leaned McKay against a pipe he found that was not yet leaking and retrieved the scientist's abandoned computer from the water swilling around on the floor in the Water Control Room.

Rodney seemed to be recovering and eyed Ronon suspiciously.

Ronon handed him the tablet, "Tell me what to do," he yelled above the noise.

Rodney just nodded and blinked slowly before he looked down at the computer screen.

He pressed a few buttons and pointed at various levers and guided Ronon to turn some and pull others.

Soon the water in the dangerous pipe was cut off and the hissing stopped.

Rodney quickly told Ronon how to shut down the other leaking pipes. Very soon the last of the water on the floor had drained away leaving them both with sopping footwear and cold feet.

After the last leaky pipe was turned off; McKay slid down the pipe he was leaning on and sat down heavily on the floor. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back in tiredness and relief.

Ronon went over and crouched next to him. Placing a hand on his shoulder he spoke, "Come on McKay. Let's get you to the infirmary."

* * *

TBC

A/N – Will Rodney ever actually get to the infirmary?

I really enjoyed writing this! I hope you liked reading it…please let me know. x Varda x


	4. Unravelling

**Chapter 4 – Unravelling**

Sheppard sat impatiently in the infirmary. He was itching to get out of there and help Rodney. He was not quite as tense as he could have been though because he knew Ronon was with McKay.

The nurse gently wrapped bandages around his burnt hands. They had put some kind of cream on them, which had soothed the worst of the stinging pain in his hands.

Teyla had been taken away behind a curtain for her injuries to be assessed in private.

Sheppard kept his eyes on the nurse as she took the spare bandages and bottle of cream away and placed them inside a cabinet on the far side of the room. He noted where they were, got up and went over to stand by the curtain.

"How's it going Teyla?"

"I am fine Colonel. Hang on a moment."

Sheppard waited for a few seconds and straightened up as the curtain was drawn back. Teyla was dressed and dabbing some cream onto her arm.

"They told me that the burns were not too severe. I need to put this cream on every few hours and they should heal on their own."

"Glad to hear it," Sheppard said as he smiled at her.

"Where did Rodney go?" Teyla asked, "I am sure I saw him before we came here."

"He had to go and shut off the water supply at the source."

Teyla frowned, "It is nearly nine o'clock. We should head up to the briefing."

"Agreed. Hopefully we can meet up with Rodney and Ronon and try and figure out what's happening."

Sheppard looked around the room and made sure no one spotted him as he sidled up to the cabinet and grabbed the burn cream and some spare bandages. He quickly shoved them into his pockets and put his finger on his lips in response to Teyla's questioning look.

* * *

Rodney sat on the floor in the Water Control Room for a moment and then released a breath he had been holding. He opened his eyes and looked at Ronon who was peering into his face. He waved a bandaged hand impatiently, "The infirmary will have to wait until I can figure out exactly what just happened." The bandages were beginning to slip and bunch up where Rodney had continued to use his hands. Red and angry skin was visible through some of the strips.

Ronon raised his eyebrows and shook his head. Almost as if he had been expecting no less from the scientist.

Ronon said, "It's nearly time for the briefing. We should head up."

He leant forward and grabbed Rodney under the shoulder and pulled him to his feet.

Rodney bent over to retrieve his computer and the toolkit, but Ronon patted his arms away gently, "I'll get it."

"Uh…thanks," Rodney mumbled straightening up as much as he dared. He followed Ronon out of the room and absent-mindedly fiddled with the bandages on his hands trying to smooth them out and cover the sore exposed patches of raw skin.

He reached up and tapped his radio, "McKay to Zelenka. Report."

_"Ah, Rodney. We have just finished releasing the last of the trapped people. There have been no more reports for the last half an hour."_

Rodney sighed in relief.

"_However,"_ Rodney tensed as Zelenka continued, _"We have just had another call that there is a dangerous gas venting into Lab Two."_

Rodney's eyebrows raised, "Lab Two? That's where I sent that useless bumbling Perkins moron earlier."

_"Don't worry Rodney. Everyone got out. Perkins was able to seal the door and prevent the gas from escaping into the rest of the city. We are heading over there now."_

"Okay. I've got a briefing now. I'll meet up with you later."

* * *

Dr Weir cast a critical eye on the people sitting in front of her in the Briefing Room. Out of all of them, only Ronon appeared to be unscathed. Teyla's face was shiny and red. Sheppard and Rodney both had bandaged hands and Rodney was leaning at the waist as he sat with his elbows on the table, obviously ill at ease about something.

Weir had already been told about that morning's escapades. Her frown deepened in concern as McKay rattled off the list of malfunctions and the improvised fixes.

"So what exactly is causing all these malfunctions?" She asked at length.

Rodney tapped on his computer, "We don't know yet. We've been concentrating on damage control so far and haven't had the time to try and locate the source."

Weir narrowed her eyes, "There are a lot of worried and frightened people out there. They are beginning to wonder what will happen next and whether they are safe."

Teyla said, "I am sure we will be able to handle any more problems as they arise. I believe it would be better for Rodney to work at finding the cause while we continue to help people as needed."

Sheppard smiled at Teyla and ignored Rodney's grimace, "I agree. It's no good just pulling systems apart to shut them down all the time. We need to stamp this out rather than break all the systems in Atlantis one by one."

Ronon looked happy at the prospect of destruction, "Sounds good. Think we'll be done by lunchtime?"

Rodney frowned at Ronon, "Talk about piling the pressure on. And as usual, I'm the only one who can save all of you and the whole city!"

Weir looked at Rodney, "Get someone to help you." She narrowed her eyes, "Make sure it's someone you can trust. We still don't know exactly what we're dealing with."

They all got up to leave. Sheppard grabbed Rodney's upper arm as he approached the door.

"Hold on a minute McKay."

The others walked past and through the doors, which swung closed behind them, leaving Sheppard alone with Rodney.

Sheppard searched McKay's face as the other man looked grimly down at the floor and refused to meet his eyes.

"Have you seen Carson yet?" He asked.

Rodney finally looked up at Sheppard and appeared to visibly steel and harden his resolve even while Sheppard watched. Sheppard was slightly taken aback, but he had seen this before many times in the scientist.

"There will be plenty of time for lazing around in the infirmary once the city has been saved, Colonel. At the moment it seems to be falling apart at the seams."

Sheppard frowned and grabbed both of McKay's shoulders as he looked at him, "As long as _you_ don't fall apart at the seams while trying to fix it."

Rodney looked at him sadly and did not pull away from his grip, "If I go down there, Carson will probably relieve me of duty. Even as the city burns and locks us out of everything he'll keep me trapped."

Sheppard's face cracked into a mischievous grin, "I thought you might be like this."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rodney said indignantly.

Sheppard just pressed his lips together tightly in a grim smile as he dug his hands into his pockets and brought out the bottle of pilfered burn cream and the bandages. He handed them to Rodney and said, "You're such a stubborn ass McKay."

Rodney chuckled lightly as he gratefully took the items from Sheppard, "You know me too well."

Sheppard helped Rodney to apply the cream and wrap the fresh bandages around his sore hands.

When they were done, they both left the Briefing Room. Sheppard walked across to the Control Room and Rodney went over to the transporter and down to the science labs.

* * *

As McKay approached the main lab, he heard quietly talking voices. As he reached the door and breezed inside he narrowed his eyes when Dr Li and Dr Perkins abruptly stopped talking and turned to look at him.

Perkins was sitting down and Li had her hand resting on his. She quickly drew it back and looked away guiltily.

Rodney frowned and narrowed his eyes in fury at them, "This isn't a social gathering people. We have a lot of work to do. Shouldn't you both be helping Zelenka?"

Dr Li straightened up and folded her arms defensively across her chest, "You told us to keep working on these Ancient devices, Sir."

"Yes, but that was hours ago and since then, in case you haven't noticed, the city has tried to kill half of the expedition. Don't you consider prioritising at all?" Rodney looked at Perkins, "Although the rate you work at probably wouldn't have made much of an impact on fixing the malfunctions anyway."

Dr Li stepped in front of Perkins and glared at McKay, "He nearly died, Sir."

Perkins snaked a hand around her elbow, "Sally, don't, it's not worth it."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rodney said as he matched and exceeded the glare from Dr Li with one of his own.

She faltered a little under his furious gaze, "Just saying," she muttered.

Rodney opened his mouth again to let rip a spectacular rant at his mutinous and defiant staff when Dr Newall walked into the lab behind him.

Newall studied the scene in front of him. He narrowed his eyes as he saw Dr Li standing protectively in front of Perkins as McKay looked like he was about to unleash scathing oral violence against them. Newall frowned and scowled when he saw Perkins' hand possessively around her arm.

Rodney pressed his lips together in a thin line, "Perkins, Li, go and help Zelenka."

"But Sir, Dr Li is due off-world in a few minutes," Perkins said quietly from behind her back.

"Alright. Perkins go and help Zelenka."

McKay turned his back on them and faced Newall, "And you can go and help Zelenka too."

"I came to escort Dr Li to the gate. I went to the planet a few weeks ago and thought I could impart some last minute tips."

Dr Li smiled sadly and walked over to Newall.

McKay muttered, "So much hand-holding. No wonder hardly any work ever gets done around here by anyone other than me."

Perkins looked quite put out as Newall left the lab with Li. When he met McKay's steely eyes he quickly fled from the lab.

Rodney rubbed his sore belly and closed his eyes when the three of them were out of his sight. He sighed and sat down heavily in a chair. He pulled a laptop over to begin trying to trace the problem with Atlantis.

* * *

TBC


	5. Obnoxious

**Chapter 5 – Obnoxious**

Sheppard and Ronon circled each other in the gym. The late morning sun was barely providing enough natural light for their session.

"How's McKay doing?" Ronon asked as he raised his fighting sticks and watched Sheppard warily.

Sheppard ignored Ronon's feint as he narrowed his eyes and stared unflinching into Ronon's. "He's looking through the city's computer system with Zelenka. They're not having a lot of luck."

Ronon quickly stepped forward and struck out at Sheppard. His blows were deflected with ease and soon both men were circling around each other again.

There had been no more malfunctions that day. Not since Dr Perkins escaped from the lab he was working in. Dr Weir had even allowed an off-world mission to proceed as planned.

After a couple of hours Sheppard, Ronon and Teyla had mutually agreed with Dr Weir that most of the expedition had calmed down enough for them to return to their normal duties too.

Only Sheppard's team and now Zelenka knew that McKay was having trouble finding the cause of the malfunctions. Rodney had reassigned everyone who had been assisting Zelenka to resume their previous projects.

Sheppard suddenly surged forward with a flurry of his fighting sticks against Ronon. His aim was precise and co-ordinated.

Sticks clashed against sticks echoing loudly around the room. The noise was abruptly halted when a different, softer impact was heard.

"Gah!" Exclaimed Sheppard, holding his side.

Ronon twirled his sticks and grinned smugly.

Sheppard frowned and spun his own sticks around in response.

Ronon spoke, "Seems strange that McKay can't find anything."

Sheppard nodded, "Yes it is. He says he can't see anything wrong with the city's systems."

"Then what caused the malfunctions?"

"Don't know. He'll figure it out though. He always does."

Ronon attacked this time. Sheppard blocked most of the hits and even cracked Ronon across the upper arm, before he was hit again in the back.

"Okay. I think that'll do for now." Sheppard said as he bent forward holding the small of his back.

Ronon chuckled as he went over to grab his bag on the ledge by the stained glass window.

His breath caught in his throat, as he got closer to the window. Ronon frowned; he had barely even broken a sweat as he and Sheppard sparred, he certainly should not be having any trouble breathing.

Sheppard was already close to the door and was waiting for Ronon to join him.

"Let's say we get changed and ask Teyla and Rodney to join us for lunch. We can ask him in person how he's getting on." Even as Sheppard spoke, he knew that he would end up carrying a sandwich down to McKay's lab after they had all finished. Rodney would not stop for food or rest until he had solved the malfunction mystery.

Sheppard frowned when Ronon did not reply. Ronon coughed harshly from the other side of the room and then turned to face Sheppard.

His face was tense and he growled, "Get out!" as he jogged over.

Ronon shoved Sheppard out into the corridor with such force that the Colonel fell down and rolled across the floor as he went through the door in the gym.

"Hey!" Sheppard shouted.

Ronon was not fast enough to get out though and the door slammed in his face.

Sheppard landed on one knee and faced the door to the gym. He winced when he saw Ronon hit the door through the dark stained glass windows.

* * *

Ronon smelt the gas soon after his breath caught. He remembered Sheppard telling him briefly what had happened to one of the scientists earlier that day. Thoughts of self-preservation and saving Sheppard flooded his mind and without speaking he ran over and pushed Sheppard out of the gym.

The door shut in his face before he was able to follow. Ronon slammed into the glass, shoulder first and staggered back a little dazed.

He started coughing violently and held a hand on his chest as he struggled to breathe against the suffocating air in the gym.

"_Sheppard to Ronon! Talk to me buddy."_

Ronon continued to cough and reached up to tap his radio, "Gas…" he croaked.

"_Hang on I'm going to try and smash the glass in the door."_

"No…flood…city…" Ronon said as he collapsed onto his knees with his hand still on his chest and snaking up towards his throat.

"_Okay, hold on. McKay will have you out of there in no time."_

Ronon wheezed and felt his chest constricting as he struggled to find enough oxygen to remain conscious. He forced his streaming eyes to focus and looked at the large, beautiful and intricate stained glass window lighting the room. He frowned and tried to roar as he forced himself upright.

In a feat of superhuman strength he usually only reserved for fighting the Wraith, he staggered over to the window. He leaned down and wrapped a hand around the end of one of the fighting sticks he had just been using.

Ronon used the last of his remaining energy to bring the stick forward in a strong and desperate motion. He saw with darkening eyes as the glass shattered away from him, revealing buildings and the clear blue sky beyond.

The world went completely dark as he fell down, even as cool air drifted into the room and most of the gas escaped.

* * *

Rodney sat in his lab opposite Zelenka who was helping him to try and find source of the malfunctions.

They had been working solidly for over two hours.

Rodney put his bandaged hands on his cheeks and sighed in exasperation at the lines of code scrolling up his screen.

"Anything?" Zelenka asked unnecessarily.

"No. You?"

"No. It is like the city is hiding something from us. It is just so difficult to find anything wrong."

Rodney lowered his hands again and looked up across the top of his screen at Zelenka.

"So, we need more options…" McKay stood up and began pacing backwards and forwards. Zelenka followed his colleague's movements as Rodney looked down at the floor with his mind ticking over rapidly. Rodney began tapping a fist into his open palm unconsciously in time with his pacing. He winced at his burns and quickly stopped.

Rodney said, "I was initially thinking someone had been tampering with the systems either in real time or just throwing glitches in at random."

"We both now know that is not the case."

Rodney stopped pacing and narrowed his eyes at Zelenka; "There are very few people on this base who could completely cover their tracks. You and I could do it, but we would also be able to trace it if someone else had. Hours of work and," Rodney raised his hands in surrender, "Absolutely nothing."

He sighed noisily in exasperation and pursed his lips as he looked off to the side away from Zelenka. "I think we can safely say now that it was a dead end."

"What about a virus or worm?"

Rodney looked back at Zelenka, "Again, we would've been able to trace something by now. The malfunctions have so far only affected three systems." Rodney used his fingers to check them off, "Doors, water pipes and environmental controls."

"It seems that someone or something is trying to kill us," Zelenka said.

"Hmm, but why has it stopped? If they really wanted to kill everyone, then why not just flood the whole city with gas or use the ZedPM to run an electric charge through all the corridors?"

Zelenka grimaced at Rodney's pessimism and mulled his words over for a moment. "Maybe it was a test. Perhaps whomever or whatever did it was just seeing what they were capable of."

Rodney frowned, "If that was just a test, then we are going to be in serious trouble later when they go the whole way with whatever they have planned."

McKay walked over and sat down in his chair again. He huffed and rubbed his forehead.

"I'm going to check out the power distribution schematic from this morning. See if there are any anomalies."

Zelenka peered over the top of his laptop, "I think I'll keep checking over the code. See if there's anything we missed."

"Okay."

Rodney had been studying the map for a few minutes when his radio buzzed, _"Sheppard to McKay and Zelenka."_

Radek looked up from his screen across at Rodney.

"This is McKay, go ahead."

"_Ronon's trapped in the gym. There's gas in there. He's suffocating."_

Sheppard's calm voice was a little frayed at the edges as he spoke quickly.

Rodney's eyes widened and he shot up to his feet. He snapped his fingers at Zelenka, "See if you can find and shut down the problem from here. I'm going to assume it'll be like earlier and head over to the environmental control junction for that section."

"Okay, go!" Zelenka replied as his fingers suddenly began to fly rapidly over the keys of his laptop.

"We're on it, Colonel. But it's going to take a few minutes. I suggest you get Carson up there ready."

"_He's already on the way. Hurry."_

Rodney grabbed a toolkit and a computer before he left the lab and his mind raced. He needed some help if Ronon was to survive. He considered asking Teyla or maybe even Sheppard. But Rodney needed someone who was familiar with the systems to shut them down quickly. Zelenka was busy, although Rodney seriously doubted he would be able to fix the problem remotely as they had both failed to find anything wrong with the systems.

He tapped his radio as he ran towards the transporter, "McKay to Lab One."

"_Perkins here."_

Rodney steeled himself and realised that his anger at his co-worker had dissipated somewhat from earlier that day. Although Dr Perkins was slow at code work, he was dependable when it came to manual fixes and he rarely made any mistakes.

"Er…Perkins I need your help," he muttered breathlessly, "Meet me in the environmental control junction for the tower where the gym is located."

Perkins seemed to audibly brighten in his reply, _"Sure, Rodney. I'll see you in a minute."_

"As fast as you can please. Gas is venting into the gym where Ronon is."

"_Oh, not again!"_

At that moment, Rodney entered the transporter and poked the screen for the centre of the gym tower.

* * *

Rodney jogged along the corridor and swiped his hand over the panel to the environmental control junction room. The bruises across his midsection had lessened in pain to an occasional dull ache when he moved too quickly. They hurt a lot more as he ran, but he blocked the pain as best he could. He focused his mind on freeing Ronon from the suffocating gas. There were now more important things at stake than his own discomfort.

The room Rodney entered was small and functional. Pipes and vents lined the walls. Not unlike those of the Water Control Room he had been in earlier that morning. However these pipes were a lot thinner and curved around the walls in a confusing array of junctions.

Perkins ran into the room as Rodney eyed the pipes. McKay turned and nodded at him. The other scientist opened his mouth to speak, but Rodney held up a hand to silence him as he tapped his radio.

"McKay to Zelenka. Report."

_"I'm sorry Rodney. It's the same as earlier. There are no problems showing in any of the systems. I cannot fix something I cannot see."_

Rodney sighed, "Okay. Back to square one. I'm going to manually isolate and shut down the atmosphere to the gym and redirect a clean air supply into the room."

Perkins flipped open the toolkit and awaited instructions as Rodney plugged his tablet into the control panel for the room. McKay tried to ignore his hands, which were shaking in feverish panic as he worked and his heart pounded in his chest.

"Perkins, third pipe down on the far right. Shut that one off. There should be a lever somewhere on the side of the pipe."

Perkins stood up and hurried over to the pipe, he reached up and quickly turned the lever.

"Okay, good. Now to redirect some clean air into the gym. Hmm." Rodney frowned at the tablet.

Perkins was way ahead of him though and shut off an air supply to an unused lab. He went around the room methodically turning levers and cranks to guide the air through the pipes towards the target.

McKay watched and corrected him a couple of times as he worked.

"Okay, that should be it. Reopen the airflow to the gym."

Perkins did as asked and Rodney smiled in satisfaction down at the tablet.

"Right, okay. Good work."

Perkins hid his grin as he crouched down, sealed and picked up the toolkit.

"McKay to Sheppard."

_"Go ahead."_

"We've had to manually shut off the faulty pipe. The gym should be vented of the gas now."

_"You're too late."_

It felt as though Rodney's heart had leapt up into his throat as his chest constricted painfully, his mouth went dry.

"What?" He squawked in panic.

_"Ronon had to save himself in the end. Hope you weren't too fond of the windows in the gym?"_

"John…I…"

_"He's fine. Carson's giving him some oxygen now. We're not sure what the gas was, but hopefully it won't have any long term effects."_

McKay sighed in relief and tried to control his shaking hands, "Okay, good. I'm going to head back down to the lab and carry on trying to find out what's happening."

_"Maybe you'd better wait. Dr Weir told me, while you were working, that more reports of slamming doors and gas filled rooms are coming in."_

"Ah…I'll get my team to deal with it, like they did earlier." Rodney turned to Perkins who was looking at him with a puzzled expression at the one-sided conversation he was hearing. "Better to find the cause than to constantly run damage control, eh Colonel?"

_"Acknowledged."_

Rodney unplugged his tablet and turned to Perkins, who was watching him expectantly, "Perkins, while Radek and I try to find the cause of these malfunctions, I want you and Dr Newall to organise some teams. I need you to manually vent the gas rooms as and when they occur and open any sealed doors if they trap people."

Perkins beamed at the responsibility. "But Newall took an early lunch today. He says he needs to sort out his sleeping pattern due to the effects of off-world travel and differing time zones."

"I think this is somewhat more important than eating? Don't you?"

Rodney walked quickly out of the room and back to the transporter as Dr Perkins tapped his headset and began organising the science teams.

* * *

TBC


	6. Falling Sideways

**Chapter 6 – Falling Sideways**

Dr Robert Newall lifted his hand from the waist high podium in the Ancient lab on Atlantis. He breathed deeply and staggered backwards as the control was torn from his limbs. He gazed down at the back of his right hand for a brief moment and then turned it over.

A frown creased his brow as he saw the device embedded under the skin in his palm.

It had hurt at first. The pain so intense he nearly screamed. Somehow the wound had healed around the injury and all that was left was a glowing light, which quickly dimmed to nothing as he watched. He recalled how it had come to be in his possession and bowed his head and narrowed his eyes with a particularly evil expression, almost devoid of any shred of humanity he had possessed before he had come to know the power of the device.

* * *

**The previous day…**

The device looked completely innocuous and inert when he first saw it. After all, it was just a small triangle of metal with an intricate design on one side and a few lines of tiny Ancient text on the other.

The moment he picked it up it activated to his artificial ATA gene and lit up. The careful patterns turning white and then red as it sensed a viable target. As he held it in his right palm to study it sank down painfully into his hand and then stopped. Fusing to the skin.

He thought he really should go to the infirmary or maybe even just show it to McKay and get some more information.

As he walked through the corridors of Atlantis trying to decide what to do a strange sensation nearly overwhelmed him. He fell sideways against a wall and some of his co-workers, who had been passing, rushed to his aid and helped him upright with calls of, "Are you alright?" "Shall we call for help?"

Newall brushed them off in annoyance and carefully concealed the palm of his hand, where the skin had already formed over the device.

As he straightened up to walk, he felt it again; a gentle tugging from several directions. He thought there was no point bothering McKay with it until he knew what it was, and he was obviously medically fine as he was still walking around. Also, he was almost beyond caring what happened to him, his world had been nothing but a downward spiral of misery for the last few weeks.

So he followed one of the forces that was pulling him.

It took him over an hour to find the lab. It was sealed and did not look as though anyone from the expedition had found or catalogued it yet.

He looked up and down the corridor, but there was no one else about. He then swiped a hand over the door control and stepped inside.

The pull towards the centre of the room was now almost too much to bear and Newall could no longer control himself as he walked forward into the empty lab. Bare walls and a smooth floor were all that he could see and he had no idea why the device had been guiding him to this empty and abandoned lab.

As he reached the centre of the room, the door closed and the lights turned out.

Suddenly a small podium rose from the floor in front of him. Newall saw a hand-shaped groove cut into the top at exactly the right height for him to reach out and touch.

Curious now, he stretched out the fingers of his right hand and placed the palm carefully on the podium.

The reaction was instant and terrifying.

The lights in the room rose to such brightness that Newall closed his eyes. A feeling of total control ran through his mind and all his veins. Newall opened his mind and soul to the power that coursed through him. He could feel everything; all of Atlantis' systems and towers; every room and door. He could even see in his mind's eye, every life sign as they moved and others as they slept. He felt every tap as someone activated the Ancient systems in the Control Room.

Newall stood there for hours and hours, letting the sense of absolute power in all its corrupting glory wash over him. He felt like he had become the city and the city sang with him as he concentrated on activating and manipulating the systems.

It was still very early in the morning, but no one was around and he had to test it out. So he started on the doors and quickly moved onto the water pipes.

He laughed as he watched the life signs rushing around trying to fix the problems. He blocked every attempt at McKay and Zelenka to trace the problems with the city. They would never find anything wrong with the code as Newall had every system under his control and could manipulate all things with just a thought.

Then he remembered why he was there. He had been so wrapped up in the power and delight of being at one with Atlantis and having the city do his bidding. Now that he had a means, he would destroy the one who had made his life nothing but misery. . He thought that as he had nothing to lose, he may as well wreak havoc on everyone in Atlantis out of spite before he was through.

Narrowing his eyes, he focused on the life signs and searched through the video feeds until he found what the person he was looking for.

He flooded the lab with gas, but the target was too quick for him and escaped before Newall could close the door. He still struggled to control more than one system at once. He screamed in rage and fell away from the podium.

Impacting the floor he rolled away and looked up at the stand in fear as it lowered into the floor in a seamless join.

It was as though a heavy blanket had been lifted from him and he felt light-headed as he stood up.

Shaking his head and trembling, he ran from the room. Praying that no one had missed him and that he could do his normal duties without arousing any suspicion.

* * *

**1230pm (Present…)**

Rodney returned to the lab and sat opposite Zelenka as they both continued to hunt down the cause of the malfunctions.

McKay was searching through the power schematics for that morning and had his face fixed in a permanent frown when nothing was forthcoming from the diagrams in front of him.

He was just about to ask Zelenka for a status report when his screen abruptly changed. He narrowed his eyes in surprise, as he had not been touching any of the keys. The monitor displayed a real time readout of the power distribution on Atlantis.

There was a massive power drain channelling towards an abandoned lab on the South Pier. As Rodney continued to watch his eyes widened in realisation as the reading vanished.

He reached up a shaking hand to his radio, "McKay to Sheppard."

"_Sheppard here."_ It sounded like he was halfway through a mouthful of food.

"Where are you?"

"_Mess Hall."_

"I need to speak to you. See you in a minute."

"_What is it?"_

"Uh…Not over the radio."

"_Okay."_

Rodney unplugged the laptop and walked to the side of the room to grab a pad of paper.

Zelenka watched him curiously as he quickly scribbled a note and passed it to him.

Radek took the note and read. Then quickly folded it and placed it in his pocket with a nod.

Rodney then left the lab and headed for the transporter. He kept glancing up and down the corridor warily and held the computer tightly in his hand.

* * *

Dr Newall quickly recovered his poise and put his hand down on the podium again. He ran through some checks and noted with alarm that there was only one life sign in McKay's lab.

He had been keeping a careful eye on the two scientists just in case they got lucky or if Newall unintentionally overlooked something.

He searched through the logs of accessed data in his momentary lapse and saw that he had been discovered.

He swore and used the video feeds to locate McKay as he exited the transporter and headed towards the open door to the Mess Hall.

He had to be stopped, but there was no time. If he could seal the Mess Hall door even just for a couple of minutes, he would be able to escape before Sheppard's team found the lab and stole the device from him.

* * *

The noise from the Mess Hall increased as Rodney approached. He shifted his gaze nervously to the people who walked past him and hugged the laptop under his arm closer to his body.

He saw Sheppard, Ronon and Teyla just before he walked through the door and felt himself relax slightly in relief. He had made it.

There had been no lasting effects from Ronon's near suffocation earlier. Beckett had quickly analysed the gas and discovered it was harmless. The lack of oxygen in the room had made Ronon pass out for a few seconds. That was quickly solved with an oxygen mask, which the Satedan had pushed off his face before Carson could get him to the infirmary.

Rodney stepped up to the door, as two marines rushed out and forced him to turn sideways in the doorframe.

Rodney huffed in anger and was just about to turn into the Mess Hall when something very solid and very painful hit him in the back.

The door shoved Rodney forwards as the opposite door approached him at a speed seemingly too fast for any of the doors on Atlantis.

Rodney tried to move out of the way, but he was not fast enough and the doors slammed onto the right side of his chest.

The motors strained to make the doors close the rest of the way and Rodney's side and ribs were pressed by the edges. His laptop clattered across the ground as he dropped it and struggled in vain to free himself. However, he was too tightly pinned between the doors and any movement hurt so much he had to stop. He grimaced and shuddered in agony as the compressing bite of the doors increased on his chest and side.

Sheppard, Ronon and Teyla ran over to aid their friend.

"Sheppard to Zelenka. We need you at the Mess Hall to open a door. Rodney's trapped!"

He tapped his radio again as he ran, "Medical team to the Mess Hall."

Rodney looked up at them and tried to speak, but all the air had been crushed from his lungs and the terrible pressure on his ribcage prevented him from drawing in enough oxygen. His eyes widened in fright and he lifted his hands to desperately try and force the door to stop its constant attack. He tried to find a purchase against his side, but the edge was so deeply embedded in him there was no give for him to snake his fingers in-between.

Sheppard and Ronon crouched down on either side of the doors and grabbed the edges near the floor, where they were not crushing McKay. They heaved and strained to stop or even just to slow the doors in their tracks as Rodney gritted his teeth and closed his eyes.

Teyla felt so helpless as she stood there watching the life being literally squeezed out of Rodney. His face was growing more and more pale as he tried to fight and hold onto consciousness.

Teyla reached out and grasped his hand and he opened his frightened eyes to look at her. She felt his hand trembling, so she lifted her other hand and held his tightly in both of hers.

He mouthed something, but his airless lips only moved and no sound came out. Teyla did not know what he had tried to say and she frowned in confusion.

Rodney closed his eyes again and turned away with his brow furrowed in pain and fear.

Sheppard pulled with all his strength. Entirely blotting out the pain in his hands as he tried to stop the unceasing and unyielding door from cutting Rodney in half. He hoped that Zelenka would be there soon. He was not sure how much more Rodney could take and expected to hear the horrendous sound of the scientist's ribs snapping like twigs at any moment when the door won.

Ronon grunted on the other side, still feeling light headed from his recent ordeal, as he fought against the door mechanism. He suddenly thought that he had been lucky not to have had the same thing happen to him earlier in the gym when the door had sealed in his face. Ronon frowned as he pulled. There was simply not enough time. Rodney's face was so pale, if he did not suffocate, then he would soon be killed when the compression broke his ribs and drove them into his lungs and internal organs.

Zelenka arrived at the same time as Beckett and his medical team.

Carson surveyed the scene before him, "Oh my God, Rodney!"

But McKay was already unconscious and made no sign that he had heard.

Zelenka grimaced as he saw his friend trapped and being slowly crushed to death between the doors. Two marines were crouched on the floor on this side and were pulling the doors to try and stop the relentless closure.

Zelenka grabbed a pair of wire cutters from his toolkit and pried off a wall panel from next to the control crystals. He was just isolating the correct wire to cut in order to release the murderous doors, when they opened on their own.

Sheppard quickly jumped up and caught Rodney under the arms as he crumpled onto the floor.

Zelenka frowned at how the door had opened before he did anything, but he continued working and cut the wire anyway. They had no way of knowing whether it would happen again and he needed it to be completely safe. He turned and watched in worry as Carson's team pushed Sheppard aside and worked on Rodney.

Carson quickly checked over Rodney as he lay on the floor, "Pulse is rapid. He's not breathing."

Carson threaded an IV line in Rodney's arm while one of the medical team crouched down and placed a mask over his face and began pumping air into his lungs. The rest of the team lifted him up onto the gurney they had brought and pushed him away towards the infirmary.

Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon followed while Zelenka stood still in the corridor with his mouth open and holding the wire cutters in exactly the same way he had been for the last minute.

One of the marines who had been in the Mess Hall went over to Zelenka and put a hand on his shoulder and then helped him pack up his equipment.

* * *

Dr Newall wrenched his hand away from the podium, feeling once again hollow as the city fled from his system.

His hands shook in exertion. That had not meant to happen. He was supposed to just shut the door before McKay had gone into the Mess Hall, but it had gone wrong and McKay had nearly paid the price for Newall's stupidity.

Newall had had to search through the network to isolate the code to open the door, but it had been strangely elusive.

He had spent many hours figuring out how to shut doors, but never how to open them.

He felt empty and drained. No emotions registered in his mind. He thought that he should be feeling shocked or guilty or maybe even relieved as Rodney would be unable to communicate what he had found out for a while.

Instead he smiled, but there was no happiness in his eyes. There were still many systems to play with and a lot more fun to be had before he could proceed to his ultimate goal.

First he would need to relocate to another of the Ancient labs where he had felt the pull from earlier. That way, if anyone checked McKay's laptop, he would still be safe.

Whistling softly to himself, he left the lab and allowed himself to be guided by the device once more.

* * *

TBC

A/N – Interesting aside, the working title for this chapter was 'Doored to Death.' However the humour in the title was jarring against the seriousness of what's happening, so it had to go...

I hate keeping secrets and I thought it was fairly obvious who was doing it anyway. Please keep reading though! Thanks x Varda x


	7. The Lull

Thank you for all your words of encouragement! Rest assured, Rodney still has a long way to go before his day's over…

**Chapter 7 – The Lull**

Rodney started breathing on his own before Carson's team got him to the infirmary. They quickly replaced the mask on his face with a normal oxygen one.

Carson checked Rodney's chest as they wheeled him down the corridor with Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon keeping their distance behind.

"Breathing is normal, no obvious external signs of trauma," he announced as he looked along Rodney's body.

As they reached the infirmary, Sheppard was shocked to see how busy it was. It looked like Carson had called in all the medical staff on Atlantis and even the off duty medical personnel were calmly checking on the many people who were being treated.

Sheppard stood in the doorway and looked around at the injured. It seemed as though half of the science team was in there. There were people being bandaged; most likely from the electrified doors. One man had his arm in a cast, which was being carefully strapped up by a nurse. Others were lying down with oxygen masks on their unconscious faces; probably victims of the gas attacks.

Sheppard shook his head in disbelief and then focused on Rodney as Carson's team worked. He smiled when he saw Rodney had his eyes open, but they were darting around the room in terror. The mask over his nose and mouth fogged up as he puffed out a lungful of air.

Carson spoke gently to the frightened man, "It's alright, we've got you, laddie. You're in the infirmary. Gave us quite a scare back there. We're going to run some scans to find out what those doors did to you."

Carson frowned when he saw Rodney's bandaged hand as he lifted it up and pushed the mask off his face, "The lab! The power drain in the…" he trailed off as his chest hitched and he began hyperventilating.

Carson quickly put the mask over Rodney's nose and mouth again, "Take deep and slow breaths."

Sheppard tapped his radio, "Sheppard to Zelenka. Meet us outside the infirmary."

Rodney closed his eyes and tried to relax. His breathing evened out a little.

"Aye, that's good. Let's get you on the scanner."

The medical team transferred Rodney over and the lights moved along him sending all the data to a screen as Carson watched the readout.

Beckett focused his attention on the readings from Rodney's chest and abdomen first. He raised his eyebrows in disbelief as he spoke, "No fractures and no sign of serious internal bleeding."

Rodney sank down slightly in relief as he turned his head to the side and looked at the screen Carson was studying.

"However, there is some bruising on your torso and you probably have some bruised ribs. Thank God we were there so quickly with the oxygen as it looks like the mild hypoxia is already diminishing."

Rodney took in a particularly deep breath to let out a sigh in relief, but his ribs protested making him shudder and wince.

Carson turned to him and put a hand on his shoulder, "Easy there, laddie. Those ribs are going to be very sore for a while."

Rodney grimaced and pushed the mask off again, "Sheppard…" he said, just before Carson patted his arms away and put the mask on again. Rodney frowned in annoyance as his next words were muffled.

Sheppard was still listening and watching. He went over to Rodney as the medical team lifted him back onto the gurney. There were no spare beds in the infirmary.

"I'm here buddy."

Rodney pushed the mask to one side again, "Gave Zelenka a note. You need to get to the lab before it's too late."

"Don't worry, he's coming down now. We'll figure out who or what did this."

Carson narrowed his eyes between the two men, "Rodney, why are your hands bandaged? There are no records of any of my staff seeing you recently."

Sheppard looked at him sheepishly, "Um…well…"

But Rodney cut across him, "_I _did it this morning. You know how it's been. There was no time to come down."

Carson frowned at him, "You need to learn to take better care of yourself, Rodney. The Colonel here was able to find time to be properly treated and so should you."

Sheppard looked terribly guilty when he caught Rodney's eye from behind Carson's back. He mouthed, "I owe you one," at the berated scientist.

Rodney continued to protest, "But the malfunctions! We're losing control of the city!"

"Rodney, I know how important the city is to you. But your health is important to me. If it takes an almost deadly trauma to get you here…" he trailed off as Rodney turned away with his mouth turned down in sadness.

Carson turned to Sheppard and spoke kindly, "Please can you leave, Colonel? I need to examine him in private."

Sheppard placed a hand on Rodney's shoulder and was slightly put out when he got no reaction. Rodney put the oxygen mask back over his face this time and did not look at Sheppard when he walked away.

Carson drew a curtain around the corner of the infirmary as Sheppard approached Teyla and Ronon.

"Teyla, I want you to stay here while we speak with Zelenka and see whether he has any more info on the lab Rodney mentioned."

Teyla gave him a questioning look, but did not speak.

Sheppard saw it though, "We don't know what we're dealing with yet. But it's too much of a coincidence that Rodney found something and was then nearly killed just a couple of minutes later."

Teyla said, "You mean if it is a person, they may try to finish what they started?"

"Precisely. Keep an eye on him and call us if you see anything suspicious."

Teyla nodded and walked into the infirmary. She leant on a wall away from all the activity and watched the people in the room, paying particular attention to the curtain in the corner.

Sheppard and Ronon walked up the corridor and were soon joined by Zelenka, who still had his toolkit from a few minutes ago. He had also retrieved Rodney's laptop.

They stopped in the middle of the corridor.

Zelenka spoke first, "How's Rodney?"

Sheppard replied, "He's conscious. Carson's still checking him."

Zelenka sighed in relief, "Good thing you were there to lessen the pressure from the doors."

Ronon nodded.

Sheppard leaned towards the Czech scientist and spoke quietly, "Do you know anything about an Ancient lab Rodney found?"

Zelenka replied, matching his volume, "I don't know yet. He gave me a piece of paper before he…" his voice trailed off as he stuck a hand in his pocket.

Drawing the note out, Zelenka studied the writing. There was the letter 'S' followed by a few numbers and a barely legible 'power drain to lab' written underneath.

"It shows co-ordinates. 'S' indicates the South Pier and the numbers show the exact tower, floor and room we need."

"Can you take us there?" Ronon asked.

"Sure, follow me."

They started to walk along the corridor again towards the nearest transporter.

* * *

Dr Weir stood in the Control Room looking over the balcony at the Stargate. A worried frown creased her forehead as she thought about the current situation. She had heard what happened to McKay and knew that Carson was treating him in the infirmary.

She had also just had a talk with Dr Perkins, who was heading up the damage control teams throughout the city. The malfunctions had stopped temporarily, but barely concealed panic was now rife amongst the inhabitants of Atlantis. Not so much in the military personnel, but many of the civilians were showing the first signs of fraying around the edges. People were scared to go into rooms in case the doors closed and the environmental controls went wrong and gassed them.

So many of the scientists had been injured; some, including Rodney, had nearly died at the hands of the malfunctions. Nearly all of them had been gassed, burned or bruised in some way or another; many to such an extent that they could no longer work or assist in helping other people.

The infirmary was already filled to maximum capacity and unless the source of the problem could be located soon, Carson would be overrun and there could be fatalities.

Dr Weir rubbed her forehead and closed her eyes for a moment.

Dr Perkins had been doing an excellent job and she had asked him to train some marines to help the dwindling number of able-bodied scientists.

She straightened up and headed over to stand behind a technician. She had already made an announcement to everyone on Atlantis a few hours earlier to let them all know what was happening. But the news of Rodney's near fatal encounter with the doors had spread like wildfire and she could no longer ignore the looks of barefaced terror she saw in some of the staff when they walked past her.

"Put me on Citywide please."

The technician leaned over and a chime sounded as he pressed the control. He looked up at Dr Weir in expectation as she pinched her features together and steeled herself.

"This is Dr Weir." She paused for a moment and glanced down, unsure what to say next. She knew she had to show strength and courage in all adversity. That was her job. She would always have to remain that way, even as the city fell apart around them, no matter how worried and afraid she felt herself.

She looked back up with an intense expression, "As you know we are still experiencing malfunctions across the city. Rest assured that everyone is doing their best. I cannot express enough gratitude for the job that the scientists and marines assisting them are doing to minimize disruption. Also know that we will not stop until we have found the source of this problem and know that Atlantis is once again safe."

She gave a reassuring look around the Control Room at all the people who were working there and looking at her. "All that I can say is please can everyone continue to support the teams in their endeavours to end the malfunctions and immediately call us if you see anything out of the ordinary. Thank you."

She nodded at the technician, who reached over and deactivated the speaker.

Dr Weir sighed and gave a small smile to the people who were still watching her. She then walked over to her office, sat down and looked at the damage reports and status updates so far from that day.

* * *

Sheppard, Zelenka and Ronon walked down the corridor towards the lab Zelenka was guiding them to.

Lights came on as they walked, responding to Sheppard's Ancient gene.

He reached up and tapped his radio, "Sheppard to Dr Weir."

"_Go ahead, John."_

"We heard your announcement. We're following a lead that we believe was what put Rodney in the infirmary."

"_Okay. Let's hope for everyone's sake you find something."_

"We're currently working with Zelenka to trace the source."

"_Okay, that's good. Keep me apprised."_

Sheppard reached up to deactivate his headset, but she continued_, "Oh and Colonel, about using your people to help the scientists. I'm sorry…it was my idea."_

Sheppard smiled as he replied, "That's fine. Use as many of them as you need."

"_Thank you and good luck."_

Zelenka stopped in the corridor next to a closed door as Sheppard finished speaking. "This is it."

Ronon and Sheppard indicated for Zelenka to move away from the door as they stood on either side. They both drew their guns up ready.

Ronon nodded across at Sheppard and he swiped his hand over the door control.

They quickly went inside and the lights activated. They covered all the corners training their weapons around the lab.

"That's odd," Sheppard said, lowering his gun, as he walked around the edge of the empty and featureless room. "Ronon, could you go out and wait out in the corridor and ask Zelenka to come in and check this out."

Ronon did as he asked and soon Zelenka was standing next to Sheppard looking confused. He put his tool kit on the ground and flipped open Rodney's laptop.

"I do not understand," he said scratching his head as he looked around and waited for the computer to boot up. "How can there be a power drain to this lab? There is nothing in here. No equipment or devices." He shook his head and sat on the floor, putting the laptop down to study the contents.

Ronon stood on the opposite side of the corridor to the door, so that he could still see inside, but not get trapped or shocked if the door closed. "Found anything?" He asked.

Sheppard had holstered his gun and was crouching down in the centre of the room trying to see if there was anything in the walls, floor or ceiling that could explain why this lab had been marked out by Rodney and why he had nearly been killed for the knowledge.

"There's nothing. Radek?"

Zelenka sighed dejectedly, "I can't find anything of any use on this computer. I've studied the recorded power distribution for the time when Rodney saw the drain, but it just shows as normal."

"If that's the case then we're still no closer to figuring out what's going on here."

Sheppard's eyes widened suddenly, "Unless it's a person doing this and not just random malfunctions caused by a virus. Rodney found them out and came to tell us so that we would go with him."

Zelenka stopped typing on the laptop and looked up from his position on the floor, "Of _course_. They had to stop Rodney from telling you so that they could hide the evidence and get away before you caught them."

Sheppard grinned, "Which is why the malfunctions have now stopped."

Zelenka closed the laptop, grabbed the toolkit and stood up. "We need more information. Life sign data, video feeds, Ancient database may tell us what this lab is."

They walked out of the room and headed back to the transporter with Ronon.

* * *

Dr Newall staggered into another lab he had been inexorably drawn to by the metal imbedded in his hand.

He had not realised just how tired and hungry he was. The device had taken a lot out of him; but it had also given so much back. He now had a purpose and the power to control the lives of everyone on Atlantis. He could hurt and kill people as he chose.

He now found that being apart from the machine was agony. He felt small, weak and alone without the reassuring presence of Atlantis flowing through him like it had become a part of his own mind.

He sealed the door behind him and sat down heavily on the floor against one of the walls; closing his eyes as he tilted his head back.

He was unsure how long he sat there. He was shaken from his reverie by his radio chirping in his ear. He did not even remember that he still had it.

"_Perkins to Newall?"_

He opened his eyes in surprise and anger. Seething hatred ran through him right to the very ends of his fingers and toes. It was a rage so intense it made his hands shake. Steeling himself to make his voice as neutral as possible he replied, "Go ahead."

_"Oh, thank God. I've been calling you for a few minutes. Where are you? I haven't seen you for hours. We really need your help."_

Newall's fury clouded mind ran round in circles and he frowned as he spoke, but still kept all hints of emotion from his voice, "I got pretty badly burnt and beaten up earlier. My arm and leg really hurt. I can't move. I'm sorry."

_"Uh…okay. Well, I hope you feel better soon. See you later."_

Perkins sounded dejected but the truthful concern in his voice only caused Newall to feel even more hatred towards the man.

He stood up on shaky legs and shivered. He wandered slowly towards the centre of the room and the pillar lifted from the floor in front of him. He needed to rest, but first he had to make sure he would be safe.

Placing his right hand on the pillar, he immediately felt invigorated as the thrill of control and power ran through him once more.

He concentrated as he successfully carried out his tasks.

He sealed the room he was in and placed many layers of shielding around it. He then proceeded to block access to as many critical systems as he could; life sign detectors, power distribution, doors, environmental controls and several others. He double-checked that the Chair Room was still deactivated and sealed that with shields too, just in case.

With all the blocks he put on, it would be many hours before anyone could break through. With Rodney now out of the picture, it would take even longer.

Newall went over his work and grinned. He then stepped away from the pillar and allowed himself to collapse onto the ground as tiredness overwhelmed him.

* * *

TBC

A/N – That Newall bloke gets more evil with every chapter…


	8. The Night is So Cold

**Chapter 8 – The Night is So Cold**

Rodney lay impatiently in the infirmary. The cannula making his nose itch as it gave him oxygen. Carson had made him keep the mask on for a couple of hours, "Just to be sure," he had said. It had only angered Rodney as he could not talk to Teyla or anyone else properly with it covering his face. He had then swapped it for the nasal cannula.

He grimaced every time he remembered the sight of what the doors had done to the pale skin on his chest and abdomen. Dark purple and painful bruises cut a line down the right side of his body. He had not seen his back yet, but imagined it was just as ugly.

He had tried desperately several times to reason with Dr Beckett to release him, but to no avail. The Scottish Doctor matching Rodney's stubbornness and assuring him that there had been no more malfunctions since his encounter. Carson said that he needed to be monitored for several hours, preferably overnight.

Rodney turned his head to the side and watched Teyla as she sat keeping an eye on him. At the moment she was looking at the door and had her eyes narrowed. The visible skin of her face and hands was still an angry shade of red from her earlier scalding.

Carson had already given Rodney some painkillers, but he could still feel his sore ribs every time he breathed.

Teyla noticed him looking at her and softened her expression as she studied his face, "How are you feeling?"

"Well you know, trapped, bored and useless. Also I don't think I'll be running again any time soon."

Teyla smiled at him, "Dr Zelenka and Colonel Sheppard are investigating the lab you found. I believe it is only a matter of time now before we find out what happened earlier."

Rodney frowned, "That's not what Sheppard told me earlier when he came in to give you a break. He said they'd got nothing." Rodney lifted his left hand and waved it in the air to illustrate his point, "'Running around in circles' was the term he used."

Teyla furrowed her brow in exasperation, "They _will_ find something Rodney. Just try not to worry."

At the mention of worrying, Rodney was suddenly acutely aware again of his current location with its lack of access to any open-air balconies. The doors could so easily slam closed and trap them all inside.

Rodney closed his eyes tightly and tried not to think about it. His fear of suffocating in a small space was high up on his list of the worst ways to die and he had nearly experienced it earlier. The gaseous malfunctions had done anything but alleviate his fears. Now that he was hurt too, he just hoped that he would be able to move and get them out of there if the doors all slammed and sealed them inside.

He consciously remembered not to try and move his right hand unless he deliberately wanted to hurt himself. Instead, he lifted his left hand up and placed it over his eyes as he began muttering, "Wide open fields. Wide open fields." Trying to visualize and forget where he was and what could happen to him.

It did nothing though and his breathing increased in panic. He wanted to go and stand outside on a balcony where he could look at the sky and never have to come back in. Hell, at the moment he just wanted to get out of the infirmary.

His mind ran through the course he would need to go to find the nearest balcony and it just made his heart hammer even faster in his aching chest. His breath was now coming in shallow and shaky gasps through his mouth. He did not care how much his ribs and abdomen hurt, he needed to leave.

Rodney flung his eyes open wide and he saw Teyla looking at him in worry. She reached over and put a hand on his shoulder, "What is wrong Rodney?"

"I… can't… need to get out." He said between gasps.

"Dr Beckett, your assistance please," Teyla called across the room as Rodney tried to push himself upright and she held him down by the shoulders.

Carson was doing a final check on a patient he was about to release and quickly walked over to Rodney.

Rodney turned his face towards Carson and again tried to get up, wincing and closing his eyes as Teyla held him down firmly and his bruises shifted.

"Deep breaths. In through the nose, out through the mouth," Carson said to the distressed man as Teyla relaxed her grip and let go of him.

Rodney obeyed, but still felt vulnerable and helpless. He was so afraid that he would hear the doors slamming any moment and a faint hiss as the room filled with life destroying gas.

Carson had already figured out what was causing it, "You're safe Rodney. There are many people in here, you included, who could open the doors manually if necessary."

"You're right. I just…" He let out a particularly deep breath he had just drawn in.

Carson smiled as Rodney opened his eyes to look at him.

Carson said gently, "Aye, keep it up. It's been a few hours now. I want to scan you again and make sure there's no internal bleeding we missed the first time."

Rodney inhaled another deep breath through his nose and whispered a breathy, "Okay," as he exhaled. His heart was still pounding in his chest and the constant nagging fear had not lessened, but the slow breathing was helping to calm him slightly.

Teyla's features were clouded in concern as she watched the medical team moving Rodney onto the Ancient scanner again to take some more readings.

She sat back down in the chair and looked uneasily at the door. Rodney was right, it was perfectly possible and would be so quick and easy for all of them to be sealed in the room and trapped.

* * *

Sheppard, Zelenka, Perkins and Ronon sat around the Briefing Room table looking at Dr Weir expectantly.

"So, are we anywhere nearer finding out what happened earlier?" She asked.

Zelenka answered from behind his laptop, "I was hoping we would be able to find some information in the Ancient Database, but there's nothing."

Sheppard said, "I've been helping to go over the life sign readings in the log."

Zelenka glanced over at him, "I had a look too, but I can't read anything now. The life signs detectors, the power distribution, they are all wrong. It's like there is some kind of interference."

Ronon asked, "Can you break through it?"

"I don't know. Rodney could, maybe, but it will take time."

Dr Weir narrowed her eyes, "Time is what we don't seem to have at the moment. We still have no idea when or if these malfunctions will start again and Dr McKay's still in the infirmary.

"I think we can safely assume that it isn't over," Sheppard admitted. "Rodney's been hassling Carson to let him out so that he can help us break through the lockdown. I think he hates the idea of the us losing control of the city while he sits around doing nothing."

Zelenka smiled, "Carson should let him out. We can keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't go too far."

Weir smiled tightly, "I'm not sure if Dr Beckett would agree with you."

Zelenka frowned, "Rodney would never forgive himself or us if he does nothing."

A tense silence filled the room for a moment and they all averted their gaze from one another.

Dr Weir looked up and clasped her hands in front of herself on the table, "The Daedalus will be here later. We've been locked out of the long range communicator array, but they can use their sensors to try and find whoever is doing this."

She turned to Dr Perkins who had been keeping silent. He was a little stunned to have been invited to such an important meeting.

"How's the city doing?"

"Uh…" he wrung his hands nervously, "We're still assessing the damage. Many doors had to be deactivated and several rooms are off limits as they're still flooded with gas. So far we've concentrated on freeing the people who were trapped."

He looked up at Dr Weir, "With your permission, I'd like to start making repairs on the systems we had to damage to release people."

She narrowed her eyes, "That's a good idea, but I think it would be better if you helped Dr Zelenka trace the source of the problem before we repair anything."

They all left the Briefing Room a few minutes later. Sheppard and Ronon went down to the infirmary to relieve Teyla for a while and Zelenka and Perkins went back to the science labs.

* * *

**1900pm**

Dr Newall rolled over and coughed harshly. His mouth was parched and he felt dizzy as he forced himself to stand.

Dr Li was due back in a few hours and he still had one main task to complete before her team returned. After it was finished, he would be free to do anything he wished.

Narrowing his eyes, his expression devoid of all emotion, he reached out his shaking right hand towards the podium and connected the device once more.

Honing his thoughts with the systems of Atlantis he searched through the video feeds and life signs until he found the person he sought.

* * *

Sheppard, Ronon and Perkins walked along the corridor towards the Ancient lab once more.

"Why are we doing this?" Ronon muttered.

Sheppard frowned, "Zelenka said he's going to monitor the power grid when we go inside and I activate the room. See if he can see anything. Perhaps he'll be able to find links to main systems that we may have missed earlier."

Perkins dragged his feet as he walked behind them, "A fresh pair of eyes may help too."

Sheppard grinned over his shoulder at the scientist.

* * *

Newall watched the video feed as the three figures walked along the corridor.

"What are you up to?" He muttered to himself.

He saw Sheppard and Perkins go inside the lab he had been using earlier, while Ronon waited outside.

He had no desire to kill Sheppard, but he was in the way and would soon be an unfortunate but unavoidable casualty in his plan.

He steeled himself as he saw them standing in the lab. They were talking to someone, but were using the portable radios so that he could not listen into the other side of the conversation.

He concentrated and listened to them through the video feed.

"_See anything Radek?" Sheppard asked._

_Perkins crouched down on the floor and ran his hand over the ground in the middle of the room. In his other hand he held a scanner, which he was pointing to the area he was touching._

_He stood up and brushed his hand on his trousers. He shook his head as he spoke, "I can't find anything either."_

Newall searched the systems and found Zelenka in the science lab. He quickly raised a shield around the lab. It would be unknown to the scientist unless he tried to leave the room. McKay was still in the infirmary with Teyla. Even if he could move it would be unlikely he would be able reach them in time.

* * *

Sheppard watched as Perkins straightened up and looked around the empty walls of the lab in frustration.

He sighed, "There's nothing here."

"I know, but it was worth a try."

Ronon was standing out in the corridor making sure they had a safety net, "We should go back to Zelenka and see if he has any more ideas."

"I agree." Sheppard said as he started to walk towards the door, followed by Perkins.

As he got closer he hit an invisible shield. Staggering backwards he held his head in his hands and let out a pained hiss, "What the hell?"

Perkins narrowed his eyes as he looked around the room. Holding the scanner aloft he turned around in a full circle on the spot.

His eyes widened, "It's all around us!"

"Oh crap!" Sheppard muttered.

"Ronon to Zelenka…we need you over here now…a shield's raised in the lab."

Ronon listened for a moment and then his eyes darted back into the lab where Sheppard and Perkins were now caught in the centre of the room without access to any control panels.

"Zelenka's trapped too."

Sheppard's face flooded with a look of grim anticipation of what was about to happen. Very soon his question was answered.

A freezing blast of air erupted from the vents in the ceiling and forced Sheppard and Perkins to their knees.

The cold air was coming down in such a strong current that it impacted on the shield trapping them and made the edges visible in a dull blue light.

Sheppard and Perkins both fell down and lay shivering on the floor with their arms wrapped around themselves. Their teeth chattered in the sudden extreme cold.

"McKay…" Sheppard managed to stammer out before his body began shuddering in violent shivers, making speech and thought impossible.

* * *

TBC


	9. Downhill, Fast

**Chapter 9 – Downhill, Fast**

"_Ronon to Teyla."_

Teyla was still sitting in a chair next to Rodney in the infirmary and clicked her radio, "Go ahead, Ronon."

Rodney looked up from the tablet over at her from where he lay. He had slowly ground Beckett down by asking every five minutes over the course of two hours. Carson had eventually been forced to let him have the computer, mainly just to keep him quiet.

"_We need McKay and a medical team over here now."_

He sounded a little rattled, which was unusual for Ronon. Teyla frowned.

"What is wrong?"

"_Sheppard and Perkins are trapped behind a shield and Zelenka can't get to us either. You need to hurry. They're being frozen."_

Teyla widened her eyes in shock. Rodney gave her a questioning look.

"Do you think you can walk?" She asked him.

"Don't know. Possibly, but for nothing less than a life or death situation."

He said it sarcastically, but Teyla's eyes widened even further and she put a hand over her mouth.

Rodney pushed himself upright and winced, "Oh, God! The malfunctions have started again haven't they?"

Teyla nodded, "We must be quick. Colonel Sheppard and Dr Perkins are counting on us."

Rodney swung his legs over the side of the bed and Teyla stood to help him up.

Carson came rushing over. "Where do you think you're going?"

"We need to leave." Teyla said as she held onto Rodney's left shoulder to steady him when he released an involuntary groan and closed his eyes.

Carson shook his head and walked over to stand next to them, "Not like that you are. I'm sorry Rodney, I can't let you out of my sight just yet."

"You won't have to," Teyla said as she continued to help Rodney, "We need you to come as well, with a medical team."

She then turned to Carson and said, "We must hurry. Colonel Sheppard and Dr Perkins could freeze to death if we do not."

* * *

Sheppard lay shivering on the floor as the cold air continued to cut through his thin shirt and blast over his skin. He had his arms around his knees as he curled them up to chest, trying to conserve as much heat as possible.

The icy air made his lungs and throat ache as he drew in shallow breaths.

He opened his watering eyes and looked sideways across the floor at the other man trapped with him.

Perkins was also shivering and hugging his arms around himself. He had his eyes closed and teeth clenched as he breathed through them in harsh gasps.

Sheppard tried to move to get closer to Perkins, but found that his muscles were so numb he could not shift himself at all.

Ronon watched helplessly from the corridor. He had not dared to go into the room or to try blasting anything in case it made things worse. He growled in annoyance and shifted his weight between his feet as he fiddled with his gun holster.

It looked as though Perkins and Sheppard were losing their battle against the cold and their faces had become deathly pale. Ronon knew they were still alive though as he could see the tremors and rapid breaths fogging in front of their faces.

Ronon heard a flurry of activity approaching along the corridor long before he saw Beckett with a medical team, McKay and Teyla.

Rodney had put his Atlantis uniform jacket on over his white scrubs and held his right arm across himself to lessen movement on his bruised right side. Teyla carried his tablet and stood close to him just in case he stumbled.

"We are here," Teyla said into her radio, "Thank you Radek."

Rodney grabbed his tablet from Teyla and walked over to stand in the doorway.

"Oh…" he said when he saw the scene before him.

"You can get them out McKay," Ronon reassured him.

Carson and his medical team stood in the corridor waiting for the scientist to find a way to lower the shield.

Rodney held the tablet on his left forearm as he used his right hand to type. He kept it as still as possible across himself, but grimaced as he worked when even the slightest movement of his right arm hurt him.

He turned to Teyla, "Remove that wall panel over there." He indicated the panel next to the door control crystals with his right hand and gasped as his side pulled painfully.

Carson rushed over to him, but Rodney ignored him and gritted his teeth against the pain as he continued to work.

Teyla did as he asked and exposed the wires within the wall.

"As I don't have a toolkit, we'll have to rely on Ronon's usual method for solving every problem."

Ronon grinned and levelled his blaster at the wires.

"Fire away," Rodney said, as everyone backed up from the wall.

The red blast flew across the corridor and hit the wall in a shower of blue sparks.

"So that was for the door, but what about the shield?" Carson asked.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Rodney said angrily. His hand was shaking as he tapped on the screen.

He continued to mutter while he worked, "Still lazing around napping in the infirmary? Zelenka's a great help, trapped in the lab. You all force me to work when I can hardly breathe and it feels like my ribs are cutting into my lungs."

Carson rolled his eyes while he gave a long-suffering look at Rodney's back and shook his head.

Rodney looked up from his tablet at the two stricken figures lying on the floor in front of him in the lab. He walked into the room and glanced up at the ceiling. The others followed him inside.

He pointed up, winced and shuddered a little, "Ah…" he exclaimed as he lowered his hand back down. "We need to cut the power to the whole lab. There are some power conduits in the ceiling. Should be able to blast them. Although I'm not sure what effect it will have on the lab or the surrounding areas."

He turned around and his eyes darted around at everyone in anxiety, "It may even explode, but at the moment it's all I have in the way of a quick fix. The systems are still not responding. Sheppard and Perkins will be frozen lollies before we have time to find a ladder, remove the panel and carefully choose the correct wire to cut."

Ronon pointed his blaster up at the ceiling and aimed at the area Rodney had indicated.

"Wait a minute," Rodney said, "We should go and stand in the corridor again. Sheppard and Perkins will be protected for a moment by the shield, but we won't be."

They shuffled outside and Ronon stood in the doorway with his blaster pointed.

"Do it," Rodney said.

Ronon grunted and flipped the power level of his blaster up to maximum. He fired many shots in rapid succession.

There was visible tension in everyone's faces as they all wondered if the next shot would mark the start of a massive explosion which would kill them all. After a few heart stopping seconds the lights in the lab went out.

Carson and his team quickly rushed inside and started working on Sheppard and Perkins.

Rodney nodded gratefully at Teyla as she took the tablet from him. He closed his eyes and put his right arm across his chest once more, "I think I'm going to go back to my quarters now and sleep right through until tomorrow."

"That sounds like a good idea," she said with a smile.

Ronon chuckled.

They all looked into the dark lab where Sheppard and Perkins were being wrapped in blankets and lifted onto gurneys.

Sheppard looked over at them and managed a brave smile although the muscles on his numb face were not working properly yet and that made it look half hearted.

Suddenly Dr Perkins pushed away the hands of the medical team who were helping him in the lab and tapped his radio, "What's wrong?… The gate? But they're not due back for hours…"

He shook in cold as he stood up, savagely forcing the people away who tried to keep him down. His eyes then widened in fear, "Under attack? But Dr Li's on that mission! I'll be right there."

Teyla, Ronon and McKay had already begun to walk slowly back to the transporter along the corridor, keeping pace with Rodney.

They all stopped and turned when they heard Perkins raise his voice. He stumbled out of the lab into the corridor and bounced off the wall as he hit it.

He slowly staggered along the corridor towards them as two medical staff chased after him.

"Get out of the way!" He called as he got closer, his voice was shaking.

Teyla stood in front of Rodney and Ronon and held out her arms, "Dr Perkins, Matthew, you are not well. Let us help you."

"No! Sally's in trouble, I have to help her."

"Rodney can go and help. We should be able to free Zelenka to assist as well."

Perkins did not stop. When he was near Teyla, he caught her off guard with a vicious shove to the shoulders. She had not believed the hypothermic man would have had that much power in him, but he was acting out of desperation and confusion.

Teyla was forced backwards and stumbled into Rodney behind her. He cried out and doubled over in agony with both arms crossed over his torso.

Ronon stepped forward quickly and held onto Perkins' shoulders tightly so that he could not escape.

The outburst had weakened Perkins and he could no longer keep up the momentum; Ronon kept hold of him as he fell down to the floor. The medical staff approached and lifted him onto the gurney.

Sheppard and Perkins were then wheeled away to the transporter. Sheppard smiled weakly at them. Then he visibly shrunk down under the blankets he was wrapped in and closed his eyes.

Ronon turned to Rodney and put a hand on his upper arm, as he stood with his arms still wrapped around his chest, his eyes watering in pain.

"Think you can make it to the Gateroom? Sounded quite important whatever it is that's going on."

Rodney furrowed his brow, "Yes. I have to. I'm the only one who can now."

Teyla smiled at him and then shared a concerned look with Ronon as Rodney closed his eyes tightly to try and clear them.

Ronon helped guide him back to the transporter and said, "I'm going to help free Zelenka from the shield he's trapped behind."

He stepped into the transporter first and when he had gone Teyla and Rodney proceeded to the Gateroom.

* * *

Dr Newall focused on the two figures being frozen under the shield he had raised. He smiled as he saw the life signs fading.

He was unconcerned as he watched McKay standing in the corridor trying to find a way to reach his trapped colleagues.

Newall had not thought it was in the scientist. He was always complaining about how much splinters hurt and Newall never thought for a moment the man would be able to force himself out of the infirmary after what had happened to him earlier.

Newall narrowed his eyes; McKay was now showing a strength that he had not taken into account in his plan. The other scientist possessed a will that would be difficult to break.

He frowned when he saw Ronon shooting the ceiling in the lab on the video feed. Suddenly the feed was completely cut off and he could no longer control any aspect of the lab.

He connected the dots in his mind. Without power, the shield would have lowered and freed Perkins. He saw from the life sign detector that none of the indicators had blinked out yet.

He screamed in fury, his voice reaching a volume and power he never knew he possessed. It tore into his dry throat and reverberated around the room back towards him and hurt his ears. He had been so close this time.

As he breathed quickly in his anger he felt a twinge at the corner of the city. The gate had just activated.

He switched the video feed to the Gateroom and listened to the exchange.

Dr Weir spoke from behind the gate technician,_ "Raise the shield."_

He said,_ "We're receiving an IDC. It's Dr Li's."_

Newall frowned and cursed. She was not due back for hours. He had still not successfully taken Perkins out of the picture yet. She could not return until he was dead. Then the way would be open for him to have Dr Li all to himself.

His chest tightened painfully when he thought of her. He needed to delay the return of the team. He searched through the systems and quickly found what he was looking for.

* * *

Teyla stood close to Rodney as he forced his feet to climb the stairs in the Gateroom. The gate behind them was active, but the shield was still raised.

Dr Weir looked at him in concern as he walked slowly and painfully over to one of the consoles in the Control Room and sat down.

"Should you be out of the infirmary?" She asked, taking in his pained expression and the white scrubs he was still wearing.

He waved her off with his left hand and asked, "What's the problem?"

"We called Dr Perkins and Dr Zelenka to help. We can't lower the shield and Major Lorne's team are under attack."

Teyla went over and stood behind Rodney. She said, "Dr Perkins is in the infirmary along with Colonel Sheppard and Dr Zelenka is trapped behind a shield. Ronon has gone to help him."

Weir frowned, "I'd like a full briefing in a minute. Let's concentrate on this first."

She returned her focus to the yellow shield over the rippling blue of the open wormhole. She reached up and tapped her radio, "Major Lorne. Report."

His voice came over the speaker, _"They've got us surrounded. No one has been injured yet, but we really need to get back through the gate."_

"We're working on it Major. Standby."

She turned around and looked at McKay, "How's it coming Rodney?"

He sighed in frustration, "Nothing, as usual. No indication of errors in the code. According to these readings the shield should be down." He stopped typing for a second, closing his eyes and rubbing his forehead in annoyance. He took his hand away and pointed it towards the screen of the computer where he was working.

"I can't turn it off using this. I need to unplug the power supply to the shield."

"Can you do that from up here?"

He hissed, "Yes," through his teeth as he stood up. He walked over to the console housing the DHD and muttered, "Move," to the technician sitting there.

Teyla rushed over and helped him as he sat on the floor and pulled off the panel under the console. She passed him the tablet and he used it to isolate the correct wire he needed to disconnect in order to power down the shield.

Major Lorne's voice crackled over the radio, _"Is the shield down yet?" _There was a sound of sporadic gunfire in the background, _"Two of my team have just been hit."_

"Standby, Major," Weir replied sounding anxious. She then tapped her radio again, "Medical team to the Gateroom." She looked down at McKay as he sat hunched over the tablet on the floor, "Hurry Rodney."

"Working as fast as I can," he said, sounding annoyed.

He lifted his hand and stuck it inside the tangle of wires and grabbed one of them. He flinched slightly, half expecting to be electrocuted at any second. He was alright though, even as he tugged the wire and disconnected it from the console.

The shield instantly shut down.

Weir said into her radio, "Major, the shield's down. It's safe to come through."

Teyla helped Rodney to stand up. He sat down in the gate technician's seat next to him and hugged both arms around himself as he looked down at the floor dejectedly.

A stunned silence descended on the occupants of the Gateroom when a marine stepped through the gate. He was dragging Dr Li's still form behind him. There was an arrow in her chest.

Another marine came next. He was being supported by Lorne as there was an arrow embedded in his leg.

The gate shut down behind them.

Dr Weir and Teyla rushed down the Gateroom steps to help.

Unseen by them, Rodney also followed them down the steps, but he slipped away down the corridor away from the Gateroom.

* * *

TBC

A/N – Uh oh!


	10. Freefall

Angst angst angst!

**Chapter 10 – Freefall**

Rodney sat in the chair in the Control Room feeling completely spent. He had once again completed the impossible and in record time. No one else on Atlantis would have been able to shut down the gate shield as fast as he just did.

Everyone was relying on him and seemed to be disregarding how badly hurt he was. While Beckett had already signed off most of the science team; McKay was the only one available and everyone had been heaping the pressure on the injured scientist almost to breaking point.

He now felt utterly useless whenever he was forced to fix the Lantean systems. Having to resort to tearing Atlantis apart in order to help people. He reasoned that he was doing the best job he could with no support, but it still hurt his heart whenever he had to damage the Ancient technology.

He looked down at the floor in the Gateroom where Dr Li was lying and Lorne was supporting the injured marine.

Teyla and Weir ran down the steps to help.

He had not been fast enough last time and Sheppard and Perkins were in the infirmary because of that.

This time he had yet again been too slow and people would hold it against him forever. They would lose sight of how he continued to work through gritted teeth and the encircling and constant pain of his ribs and side. Now two more people were headed down to the infirmary because of him. Dr Li's life in particular hung in the balance.

He could usually deal with being pushed to the limit by the impossible and unreasonable demands placed on him from every side. But this time he was in pain and it drove through his fragile defences, more effectively grinding him down when combined with the huge amounts of stress.

He decided he needed a few minutes alone. Selfishly perhaps, but he would stay on the radio if anyone needed him.

He walked down the stairs in the Gateroom and glanced over at Dr Li, where there was a pool of blood forming under her on the floor. Looking down at the ground near his feet, Rodney walked away.

* * *

Ronon sat next to Sheppard in the infirmary. The shield around Dr Zelenka had lowered by itself before Ronon had even got there. The scientist decided to carry on working in his lab to trace the source of the malfunctions, although even he was beginning to agree with McKay that it was a futile exercise.

Sheppard still felt the cold in his fingertips and toes, but Carson was doing an excellent job to raise his temperature back to normal after his near freezing.

Dr Perkins was in the bed next to him with his eyes wide open as he stared at the ceiling.

Sheppard frowned at him and turned to Ronon, "How's McKay?"

"Don't know. Last I saw he was heading to the Gateroom with Teyla. Something about an attack on Dr Li's team."

Sheppard became more alert at this news, "Major Lorne was leading that team."

Perkins turned his head to look at them and shifted uncomfortably under the blankets.

Ronon tapped his radio, "Ronon to Teyla. Report."

_"The shield was active. Dr McKay was able to deactivate it, but two people have been injured. One seriously. We are heading to the infirmary now."_

Sheppard was also listening on his radio, "And Rodney? He didn't look very well a minute ago."

There was a pause and then Teyla's reply came, _"Sorry Colonel. I am not sure where he is. Last I knew he was in the Gateroom, but I have been helping Dr Beckett with the wounded."_

Sheppard was about to call Rodney when the two injured people were wheeled into the infirmary. Teyla was standing with Carson's medical staff holding aloft a bag of fluids connected to Dr Li.

The arrow in her chest was surrounded by blood stained bandages. Carson was quickly checking her as they transferred her over to a proper bed.

"Pulse is weak. She had dangerously low blood pressure."

Dr Perkins was sitting up in his bed. All the colour drained out of his face as he watched the scene playing out before him.

The medical team hooked Dr Li up to the monitors and Carson frowned at the readout.

"She's crashing!" Beckett suddenly exclaimed.

One of the medical team pushed over the defibrillator. Carson shouted, "Clear!" And shocked her.

The heart monitor let out a steady whine. One of the medical staff started compressions while another pumped air into her lungs.

Dr Perkins was still staring at them wide eyed, "Do something!" He cried in desperation.

Sheppard and Ronon both frowned at the outburst from the scientist next to them.

Suddenly the whine was replaced by a slow bleep.

Carson narrowed his eyes, "We need to operate, but her pulse is still too weak."

"You have to try, please don't let her die," Perkins said as he forced the blankets away from himself on the bed.

Carson heard the outburst this time and decided a more private room was required. He indicated for his team to wheel Dr Li into the operating theatre. As the doors closed behind them the steady whine of the flat lining heart monitor could be heard once more.

Dr Perkins rolled his eyes back into his head as he closed them.

Suddenly he snapped them open and muttered with vehemence, "_He_ did this! She's going to die and it's all his fault."

Before Ronon or Sheppard could ask him what he meant, he pushed the blankets right off and fled the infirmary. Ronon chased after him, but the scientist must have known the runner was following him. He covered the display on the transporter to hide his destination as he stepped inside and Ronon could no longer follow him.

* * *

Rodney let his feet guide him along the corridors of Atlantis without purpose. After a few minutes of aimless wandering he stopped in front of a door.

He had not realised but he had been heading towards his quarters the whole time. He sighed and turned sideways so that he could use his left hand on the sensor. He was mildly surprised when the controls responded and the door opened.

He stepped over the threshold and turned the lights on. He thought he could get changed out of the infirmary gear and maybe head back to the lab to help Zelenka in the hopeless and soul destroying attempt to trace the cause of the malfunctions.

His radio activated, _"Teyla to McKay."_

"Yes?"

_"Where are you? I returned to the Gateroom, but you were not there."_

"I'm in my quarters, thought I'd get changed out of this ridiculous outfit to go and help Zelenka again. How's Dr Li?"

Teyla paused and then answered with a grave voice, _"She is very ill, but in good hands. Colonel Sheppard is going to be alright too. Carson believes he can be released from the infirmary in the next few hours. Dr Perkins fled the infirmary when he saw Dr Li."_

Rodney frowned as he felt concern about Li and Perkins.

_"Try not to worry too much for now. Dr Beckett will keep us informed. I shall meet you in the lab later."_

"Okay."

By the time Rodney was once more clad in his Atlantis uniform, his side and ribs were screaming out in agony. He sat down on the bed and breathed slowly through the pain with his eyes closed. He thought perhaps he should swing by the infirmary first and get some more painkillers from Carson.

Rodney stood up on his shaky legs and held his right arm across himself as he walked over to the door. Stepping out into the corridor, he slowly shuffled over to the transporter, trying to minimise the movement on his side.

He did not see or hear the figure behind him until he felt something sticking into the bruises on his back. He winced and stopped. A hand reached up and grabbed his radio headset.

"What the hell?" He asked in confusion and annoyance.

A harsh voice he did not recognise spoke, "The open door on your left, go inside."

Rodney frowned and turned around to see who had spoken. He got a punch in the face for his troubles as he faced his attacker. He gasped when he nearly fell over and his side twisted painfully against the bruises. He wiped a hand over his bleeding nose.

"Perkins?" He said incredulously as the other scientist raised the gun and pointed it at Rodney's chest.

Trying to ignore how much Perkins' hand was shaking and how pale the other man's face was, Rodney lifted his hands as high as he could and did as he had been told. His heart was beating painfully fast in his chest in panic.

Perkins followed him into the room. It was someone's quarters where the door had been forced open manually and no one had come back yet.

Rodney released a pained hiss as Perkins pushed the barrel of the gun into his back again, "Would you stop that!" He snapped.

Perkins spun him around and kept the gun trained on him. He looked quite strange, almost like he was fighting between rage, grief and sadness. His eyes shifted to the door, which was now behind Rodney, and then back to the man he was threatening.

Perkins began to mutter, "She's dead. You never wanted us to be together."

Rodney frowned and kept his eyes on the barrel of the gun as it lowered from aiming at his chest to point at his abdomen. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Perkins continued to rant, "Dr Li! You're always assigning her to dangerous off world missions and splitting us up."

"At work maybe, otherwise I don't care what you do in your personal lives. As for the off world missions…seems that I always end up on the most dangerous ones."

Rodney wondered whether he would feel anything at all at this close range if Perkins' finger slipped and pulled the trigger, or whether he would die instantly. He prayed for the latter option, but his pessimistic mind told him that he would probably bleed out and die in agony before anyone found him.

Perkins began to wave the gun around in wild gestures as he spoke, "If you hadn't told us to go to that lab, I wouldn't have been stuck in the infirmary when it happened. I could have lowered the shield faster and she wouldn't be dead. It's your fault she's dead."

Rodney staggered like he had been punched again. That comment was below the belt. Nothing hurt him more than the loss of the people in his team. They were supposed to be under his care and protection. But the Atlantis expedition was a dangerous one and so many dead colleagues weighed heavily on his heart every day. Now he would have yet another name to add to the list of people who had died and for a second a pressure squeezed his pounding heart with guilt and sorrow.

He shook his head as his racing mind remembered what Teyla had said, "She's not dead. Teyla told me a minute ago."

Perkins snarled, "You're lying, trying to worm your way out of this."

Rodney frowned, "Why would I lie to a madman pointing a gun at me?"

Perkins did not soften his expression and instead rushed forwards at Rodney, forcing him back with an arm over his bruised chest.

Rodney cried out as he slammed into the wall behind him. Perkins kept an arm pressed against his chest and forced the barrel of the gun into his abdomen.

Rodney closed his eyes in misery and scrunched up his face in pain. Blood was still dripping from his nose and down onto his shirt.

Perkins leaned in and whispered in Rodney's ear, "I think it's you doing all of this. It has been from the start."

McKay opened his eyes at the man who was staring at him intensely, "How the hell did you reach that conclusion Einstein?"

Perkins frowned, "You were always there to fix the systems this morning. You deliberately caught yourself in the doors to throw us off the trail."

"What? The doors that nearly killed me? Why on Earth would I do that!?" Rodney's voice broke in panic.

Perkins increased the pressure on the gun and across Rodney's chest. McKay tried to turn to the side to get away from the agony, but Perkins kept him firmly pinned.

"Zelenka said the doors opened on their own just when you were about to die. Also the malfunctions stopped for a few hours when you were in the infirmary."

Rodney had to admit when put like that it would be easy for someone to leap to the wrong conclusion.

Perkins continued, "We already know you're a genius, you don't need to use _it_ to prove yourself and especially not to hurt and kill people the way you have."

"Use what?"

Perkins pushed the gun in even more and Rodney cried out and began to shake. Pain was now radiating around his whole torso from the point of the gun. He stood on tiptoes trying to rise to get away from the source of the agony.

"Don't play dumb with me. You found The Key!"

Rodney opened his watering eyes and frowned, "Oh please! The Key's just a myth. A rumour that's been circulating through whispers in the Mess Hall, emails and hearsay for the past three years."

"What's the matter? Worried because I found you out. Of course it's real, but you should never have used it. And now you will have to pay for what you've done."

Perkins released his grip on Rodney and he fell heavily onto the floor. He groaned and rolled onto his side, curling his legs up to his abdomen as his whole body shook in pain.

Perkins stepped back and levelled the gun at Rodney; increasing the pressure on the trigger.

* * *

TBC

A/N – This chapter scared the hell out of me and it was originally _very_ different. I love blindsiding Rodney. Um… Ouch!


	11. The Key

****

Chapter 11 – The Key

The sound of the gun in the small room was shocking and deafening.

Rodney had been expecting it and already had his arms protecting his ears and head as he closed his eyes tightly. He was also expecting a new and more fatal pain to course through him as the bullet found its mark.

Instead, all that he could hear was a nearby scuffle and he dared to open his eyes for a second to look at the man who had nearly killed him.

Perkins no longer had the gun and he was leaned over holding his jaw as Teyla looked at him in fury with her fists raised in a fighting stance.

Rodney sighed in relief and uncurled slightly as the blinding pain around his abdomen began to fade away to a dull ache. His nose throbbed and was so swollen and blocked with blood he had to breathe through his mouth. He could also feel an angry headache developing.

Perkins straightened up and lunged at Teyla. As she deflected him, she punched him squarely in the face as his momentum made him rush past her. He collapsed on the floor, unconscious.

Teyla kept her eyes on him warily for a few more seconds to make sure he did not get up again.

Satisfied that he was no longer a danger, she clicked her radio, "Security and medical teams to Sergeant Stevens' quarters."

She walked across the room and cautiously kept monitoring Perkins just in case he woke up and tried to attack again. She retrieved the gun next to the wall and went over and crouched down next to Rodney.

He was still lying on the floor and as he tried to straighten a little more he gasped and winced.

Teyla frowned at him in worry, "Try not to move. The medical team are on the way." She put a hand on his shoulder as she checked him for any obvious signs of external trauma. Finding none, other than his bleeding nose and the darkening purple circles around his eyes, she turned to watch Perkins again.

"No no no no, I need to speak with Dr Weir and Zelenka. I think I may have an idea of what's happening now."

He tilted his head to the side and looked up at her. She was staring across the room at Perkins' still form. Rodney blinked and looked back down again. "How did you know anyway? I was so sure that it was the end. I thought Dr Psycho was going to try a little impromptu redecorating of the good Sergeant's quarters by using the gun on me."

Teyla pressed her lips together in a thin line and shifted her eyes down to the traumatized man next to her. She squeezed his shoulder gently and then looked back to his attacker across the room.

"You did not answer your radio. I forgot to tell you Colonel Sheppard informed me that Dr Perkins said something quite disturbing before he fled the infirmary."

"Did it sound anything like: 'Let's go and grab a gun, torture and kill McKay as he's so obviously the one doing all of this?'"

Teyla frowned again, "No, but he did sound like he was threatening _someone_. We were not sure exactly who."

"Well thanks for the heads up. My broken nose and internal bleeding aren't very grateful though."

Teyla looked down at him sadly as she spoke, "I am sorry Rodney. As soon as I found out that I could not reach you on the radio I decided to come and check. As I walked along the corridor I heard raised voices and found Dr Perkins pointing a gun at you. I was able to catch his arm as he fired and the bullet is lodged in the wall up there." She pointed to a small hole about a metre above floor level behind Rodney.

He turned to look at the wall, shuddered and closed his eyes tightly.

Teyla moved her hand onto his forehead, "Hang on Rodney, the medical team will be here soon."

He grimaced and kept as still as possible while they waited.

* * *

Dr Newall stood completely still and stared vacantly at the pillar in front of him. He had been standing the same way for the past few minutes, ever since he had torn his hand away from his cursed connection with Atlantis.

Through his actions, he had as good as killed the woman he loved with his own hands.

His mind was strangely empty and he was starting to feel hungry and incredibly thirsty as he let the stillness wash over him.

He blinked a few times to clear his dry eyes and looked down at the device embedded in his hand. He frowned as he saw it just below the surface of his skin. He pressed the fingernails of his left hand up to the edges, but could not find a purchase against the hateful technology.

He had not realised but his throat was contracting and emitting noises. His dry eyes would yield no tears as he sobbed.

He contemplated running from the lab and turning himself in, but he knew he had gone too far now and he may as well finish what he had started.

He felt lonely without the systems of Atlantis running through his mind and reached out his hand to connect.

* * *

Rodney once again lay under the Ancient medical scanner in the infirmary as the lights travelled along his body. Carson was standing next to him, frowning at the readings.

"Honestly Rodney, I think I should just keep you in here," he muttered as he studied the data.

"Still…hurts…" McKay breathed through gritted teeth as he struggled to resist the urge to turn on his side so that he could curl up again.

"Aye, it will do Rodney," Carson said as he turned and looked down at him, "I've already given you as many painkillers as I can without knocking you out or making you incoherent."

"Don't do that!" McKay said in alarm, "Still have a city to save."

"I know, but I should really keep you in for monitoring. It looks like the bruising on your abdomen has spread. Still not serious enough for you to need surgery, but I'll need to keep an eye on it."

"And my nose?" Rodney said with his voice distorted as it was still blocked.

"It's not broken, but the painkillers should take care of it."

Rodney sighed as the medical scanner light stopped, its cycle complete. "Can I go now?"

Carson raised his eyebrows, "Quite frankly Rodney, I don't think there's any way I could keep you here even if I needed to."

McKay gave him a small smile and winced as it shifted his bruised nose.

Carson continued, "But you have to promise me you'll do no more wandering off on your own. Make sure there's always someone with you just in case your condition deteriorates."

Rodney sat up slowly and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He looked around the infirmary in front of him. Sheppard, Teyla, Ronon and Dr Weir were standing in the corner waiting for him. Sheppard was still a little pale, but had got changed back into his uniform as soon as he heard what had happened to Rodney.

Seeing that Carson had finished they all walked over and stood round him.

Weir spoke first, "Teyla just told us what happened. Do you have any idea why Dr Perkins would attack you?"

Rodney looked around at all the people as they watched him in expectation, "I do, but I think we need Heightmeyer and Zelenka to help us too."

She nodded and stepped away to the side arranging a meeting on her radio.

Rodney looked down at the ground and wrapped his arms uncomfortably around his midsection as he sat perched on the edge of the bed, "How's Perkins?"

Sheppard frowned, "He's still out of it and surrounded by guards in the isolation lab. We got Zelenka to cut all the power to the room just in case someone tries to kill him again."

Rodney frowned and moved his hands away from his sides to absently examine the bandages still wrapped around the burns underneath.

Weir turned back to them, "Okay, Dr Heightmeyer and Dr Zelenka have agreed to meet us in the Briefing Room in five minutes."

A figure lying in the corner of the infirmary caught Rodney's eye, "How is she?"

They all turned around to look at Dr Li, as she lay surrounded by machinery and tubes. There was a nurse carefully monitoring her with a clipboard.

Carson replied sadly, "We were able to remove the arrow, but she is very weak. We will do all we can for her."

Teyla said, "I will see whether I can find someone from the science team to come and visit her."

Carson brightened a little, "Aye, that would be a good idea."

They all stayed still in silence for a moment as the soft beep of the heart monitor reached them.

Sheppard helped Rodney to his feet and Carson rushed over. He shoved a box of painkillers into McKay's hands and scowled, "If it gets worse…"

Rodney waved him off, "I _know_ Carson."

Beckett continued, "_Any_ worse, I want you back down here. And no heroics either." He looked around at the whole team, "Make sure you keep an eye on him. You all know how stubborn he is.

"Uh…standing right here," Rodney said indignantly as the rest of the team focused their attention on Beckett.

"Don't ignore it just because you need to save the city," Carson finished sadly.

Teyla smiled, "Do not worry Dr Beckett. We will make sure he is alright."

They left the infirmary and headed up to the Briefing Room. Dr Beckett let out a deep exasperated sigh and walked over to the intensive care area to check on Dr Li.

* * *

McKay and Zelenka cut the power conduit leading to the Briefing Room before they entered as a precaution against them being trapped, gassed or frozen and also to avoid any possible eavesdroppers. They sat around the table and conducted the meeting in torchlight.

Heightmeyer sat and listened attentively as the day's events were recounted to her. She already knew about the malfunctions, having been trapped in her quarters earlier.

She sat for a few minutes thinking over what she had been told, "Dr Zelenka, you are sure the doors opened on their own, before Dr McKay was crushed?"

He pushed he glasses up, "Yes. It does not make any sense from a technological point of view. If the malfunctions were the work of a glitch or virus they would not have stopped."

Rodney shuddered as he remembered not being able to breathe as the doors pressed against his ribcage.

Sheppard said, "Perkins was right. There _was_ a long gap before there were any more malfunctions after that incident."

"So you think it's me too," Rodney said as his gaze shifted nervously around the room.

Dr Weir answered, "We are not in a position to guess who or what it is doing this yet."

Zelenka frowned as he looked at the table deep in thought. "There have not been any more malfunctions since Dr Li's team returned either."

Teyla said, "She was seriously injured and is still in the infirmary."

Heightmeyer looked at Dr Weir as she spoke, "It seems that the person carrying out these attacks has no intention to kill at the moment. They stayed their hand when Dr McKay was trapped. Perhaps thinking that they had gone too far they decided to wait before commencing again. Now that Dr Li has also been injured, they have stopped again." She frowned as she carried on thinking.

"What about Perkins?" Ronon asked, "They seemed quite intent on killing both him and Sheppard earlier."

Sheppard looked over at Rodney, "At least until McKay deactivated the shield."

"Hmm," he replied, "I seem to have to '_deactivate'_ systems quite frequently at the moment. Usually by destroying them."

Teyla said, "Then Dr Perkins tried to kill you."

Sheppard raised his eyebrows and then looked at McKay, "You don't think that perhaps Perkins noticed you were sabotaging his plans. Then tried to take you out the picture so that he could continue with implementing the system malfunctions without interference or intervention."

Rodney looked away with a grimace as Zelenka spoke, "No, that makes no sense either, as Dr Perkins nearly died and he is accounted for at most points during the day as he has been running the damage control teams."

Sheppard said, "Unless he can control the systems while he's moving about."

The sentence hung in the air for a minute while they all considered it.

Rodney tried to snap his fingers, but the bandage prevented any noise. He grimaced, "Perkins mentioned something about an Ancient device the science department has come to know as 'The Key.' I've never believed that such a device was real and there are only hints of its existence in the Ancient Database."

Ronon asked, "What's The Key?"

McKay rolled his eyes as Zelenka looked around at everyone with his face shining in enthusiasm, "It's rumoured to be a device which provides the user with total control over all the Lantean systems. We don't know what it looks like or how it operates, but it's plausible that an object like it could be responsible for what's been happening today."

Rodney said sceptically, "Yes, but The Key, like so many other Ancient devices, has been missing for over ten thousand years. There's no conclusive proof that it exists anyway."

"Someone must've found it," Ronon mumbled.

Heightmeyer said, "If this is true and that one person has been able to gain control over all of Atlantis…" she looked to the side as she considered her words, "That kind of power would be very corrupting and based on what has happened so far, they may well have only been testing the water. We need to find and help them to stop this, before it's too late."

Weir said, "The Daedalus will be here within the next hour. Dr McKay, I would like you and Dr Zelenka to put together a communication array, off the grid, so that we can contact them when they arrive. We could use their help to find the person doing this."

Sheppard said, "We also need to put together a list of people and see if anyone's missing or has been missing at the same times as the malfunctions."

Weir said, "That's a good idea, Teyla and Ronon, if you could assist the Colonel."

They all left the Briefing Room and were about to go about their assigned tasks when the gate activated.

* * *

TBC


	12. Puddle Jumper Mayhem

Sorry! I couldn't resist ;)

**Chapter 12 – Puddle Jumper Mayhem**

The technician did not speak as he looked at the DHD in confusion. Dr Weir walked over quickly and stood next to him as the symbols on the gate continued to locked into place.

"What's going on?" She asked.

The technician looked up at her, "It makes no sense. It's not an incoming wormhole. The gate's dialling on its own."

Rodney was also standing next to the technician, "Have you tried to shut it down?"

The technician sighed, "Yes."

"Hmm, the only way to deactivate it would be to cut the power."

Weir turned to him, "What about the shield?"

Rodney frowned in annoyance, "We haven't been able to fix anything we've deactivated yet. There's just too much of a risk that the systems will go wrong again."

Sheppard folded his arms across his chest as he stood off to the side with Teyla, Ronon and Zelenka. He asked, "Can you fix it now?"

"Would that be before or after I shut down the gate?" McKay snapped.

As the last symbol locked into place, the gate deactivated on its own.

"What the…" Rodney frowned as he sat down in the chair next to the technician and typed on the laptop set up there.

"Anything?" Weir asked.

"No. It's the same as usual. No source for whatever it was that made the gate activate or any reason why it stopped."

He frowned as he studied the data. "We were able to record the address before the gate deactivated. Hmm."

They all stood around shifting impatiently while Rodney worked. After a few seconds he looked up triumphantly, "P3X-778!"

Weir frowned, "That's the same planet one of the teams returned from yesterday."

"Precisely," McKay said as he raised a finger, "Which was the last team to return before the malfunctions started."

Sheppard shifted forwards at the revelation and unfolded his arms, "Do you think they brought something back with them that caused this?"

Rodney smiled, "Perhaps something key-like?"

Weir turned to Sheppard, "I want you to round up everyone who was on that mission and bring them to the Briefing Room. Someone must know something."

The gate started dialling again. Rodney sighed and watched the symbols as they locked into place, "Same address. It's a space gate so unless there are Wraith in the vicinity, we should be fairly safe."

As he spoke the gate shut down once more.

Weir said, "Dr Zelenka, I would like you to deactivate the gate and remove the control crystal if it ever completes the cycle and forms a stable wormhole to P3X-778."

He nodded and went over to sit in the chair next to the technician as Rodney vacated it. He narrowed his eyes at the laptop screen and started to type.

Suddenly a person behind them shouted, "Dr Weir! The Daedalus has arrived."

She frowned, "We still have no way to contact them. Dr McKay I would like you to get the communications back online."

Rodney frowned as he thought and then looked up at her, "The Puddle Jumpers! We could disconnect one of them from its link with Atlantis and feed a long range radio transmitter through the system."

Dr Weir nodded slowly and remembered what Carson had said earlier. She turned to Sheppard, "Colonel, I would like you to accompany Rodney. Ronon and Teyla, liaise with Major Lorne to round up the team from yesterday."

They walked away and Teyla tapped her radio to speak with the Major.

* * *

Sheppard and McKay stepped into the back on one of the Jumpers.

Rodney eyed the crystal tray on the ceiling nervously and clasped his hands together. Sheppard frowned and then raised his eyebrows. He reached up and pulled down the tray. He handed Rodney a tablet.

"Thanks," McKay said, grateful he did not have to stretch his bruises and did not have to ask for help.

"It's okay. If you want me to rearrange or plug anything in as well."

Rodney sat down on the bench and studied the tablet. He pulled a cord out of the side and handed it to Sheppard, who plugged it into the crystal tray.

"Should be fairly simple," Rodney said as he worked, "The Jumpers' links to Atlantis are through the communication array and of course the autopilot to the Gateroom. They can also open the ceiling in the bay."

He frowned as he looked at the tablet and his eyes opened widely, "The power's spiking!"

"Why?"

"I don't know! It's not something I'm doing."

Rodney typed as fast as his bandaged hands would allow. Sheppard watched the screen for a moment as dizzying amounts of code flowed along it. After a moment he looked away and over into the cockpit.

Suddenly the HUD activated, "_McKay_?"

Rodney looked up and followed Sheppard's gaze to the front of the craft.

His voice broke a little in panic, "It's not me!"

As he started to type on the tablet again, the hatch to the rear compartment suddenly slammed closed.

"Rodney!"

"I know, I know. The Jumper is being controlled by an external source. It's another malfunction. They must've found a way to hack into the systems using the very links I've just begun trying to disable."

"That's bad. Can you stop it?"

"Yes… but… oh no!"

"What is it?"

Rodney looked up at him with his face showing poorly disguised and shamelessly obvious panic, "I just lost all the data! I can remember what most of the crystals do so that's no problem, but all the Jumpers in the Bay powered up just before I lost the information."

Sheppard walked over to the emergency hatch release lever. He stopped when he glanced out of the front windscreen in the cockpit.

The Jumper had risen from the floor and as he watched it flew out of the Bay and up into the star strewn night sky over Lantea. In front of the craft he noticed a few more of the Jumpers flying in formation with them.

Rodney looked at Sheppard, "Why did you stop? Release the hatch and get us out of here!"

Sheppard continued to stare out of the front windscreen and then walked into the cockpit, "Don't think that's such a good idea at the moment."

Rodney followed him with his eyes and got a fright when he saw their current predicament.

"The Daedalus," he muttered as he forced himself to stand and went into the cockpit with Sheppard.

Sheppard sat down in the pilot's seat. The HUD was still active and it displayed a sensor readout so that they could see what was happening.

"Is that…" McKay began.

"Yep, all of them. Even the ones from the underwater bay."

Twenty Jumpers flew with them, gaining altitude with every passing second. The formation they were flying in was perfect; each craft flying at the same speed and in exactly the same direction.

"That's amazing." Rodney said as he watched.

Sheppard turned to him, "Yes it is. How can one person can control twenty Jumpers? However, I'd rather you got us some kind of control rather than gushing over a bit of fancy synchronized flying."

Rodney scowled at Sheppard as he got up. He went into the rear compartment and searched through his memories for information as to which crystal controlled each system.

He reached up his shaking left hand and wrapped his right arm across his midsection in anticipation of the extra pain he was about to cause to himself. He gritted his teeth against it and started to swap some crystals around and remove others.

"Hurry. We're approaching the Daedalus," Sheppard said from the cockpit. The stars visible out of the window were clearer and the sky became blacker, as the fleet had just left the Lantean atmosphere.

"Oh believe me when I say I'm working as fast as I can," Rodney muttered as he lowered his hand for a moment and took a deep shuddering breath to allow himself to recover from the pain. He then reached up again and carried on working.

Sheppard watched the sensor readout as they got nearer to the Daedalus. The Daedalus had not been able to contact Atlantis for many hours now. They had probably been hailing the base and not getting any reply. Caldwell would have been weighing up the options. Sheppard contemplated what he would do if he were in Colonel Caldwell's shoes.

Now that every Jumper from Atlantis was converging on their position; Sheppard would have taken it as a threat and raised the shields. He hoped that Caldwell would do the same.

He also thought that perhaps he would launch the F-302s to intercept. Maybe beam a recon team of marines down to Atlantis to find out what was going on. They would have been able to read the life signs and know that there were still people down there.

Sheppard ignored McKay's muttering and cursing behind him and frowned at the image. The Daedalus was not moving. Caldwell was too trusting, but he must have been able to tell that something was very wrong.

They had just got into weapons range when the Jumpers did the unspeakable.

Shining bright yellow drones shot out of the front of several of the craft, including the one where Sheppard and McKay were trapped. They streaked towards the Daedalus, as it seemed to hang in space in front of them.

Sheppard opened his mouth in shock, "McKay! We need control! Now!"

Rodney turned his face to the window and watched in horror as the weapons converged on the Daedalus. He turned back to the crystal tray and risked raising his right hand as well to speed up the work. He grimaced as his hands shook and his eyes started to water.

Sheppard sighed in relief as the Daedalus' shields absorbed the impacts as the drones exploded against them. He thought it was a good thing that most of the Jumpers were not stocked with drones as a matter of course.

Sheppard frowned at the formation as it stayed exactly the same. The Jumpers flew over the top of the Daedalus and turned around for another pass. The larger ship had still not fired at them or launched any F-302s. Caldwell was probably confused and did not want to destroy any irreplaceable Puddle Jumpers unless his ship was seriously threatened.

Sheppard raised his eyebrows. It had been a big gamble on Caldwell's part not to destroy the Jumpers. There would have been the risk that every Jumper was armed with a full stock of drones and may have fired every one at the same time.

The Daedalus would have been destroyed.

Sheppard was shaken out of his train of thought by Rodney sitting down heavily on the bench in the rear compartment. McKay leaned forward and rested his arms on his knees. "You should have control now."

Sheppard already knew though. He could feel the familiar link with the craft and he activated the comm, "Sheppard to Daedalus."

A calm voice replied, _"This is Colonel Caldwell. Colonel, I don't suppose you could tell us what's going on?"_

Sheppard broke with the formation and hovered relative to the calamity now playing out in front of them.

"We've lost control of the Jumpers. I suggest you execute a hyperspace jump to get away."

_"Very well. Do you require our assistance?"_

Rodney looked up from the bench, "Yes. Could you send us your sensor readings of Atlantis from the last few minutes?"

_"Dr McKay?"_ Caldwell asked, _"You shall have them. Will we be able to contact you again?"_

"Yes. I've disconnected this Jumper from the its link with Atlantis."

Sheppard studied the HUD as the sensor logs from the Daedalus were downloaded.

When it was complete, the Daedalus flew away through a hyperspace window. The malevolent Puddle Jumpers had once again been approaching weapons range. They flew onwards to where the Daedalus had been.

Noticing that their mark was gone, they stopped and hung uselessly in space.

Sheppard frowned and pointed the Jumper he and McKay were in back down to the darkened side of the planet in the grip of night below them.

Rodney shuffled into the cockpit and sat next to him as they sped back towards Atlantis with their precious data.

* * *

A/N – Well that's a strange way to kidnap someone…


	13. Descent

Sorry for the delay in updating. I had to write and post my time critical Halloween fic…

**Chapter 13 – Descent**

Dr Newall found it surprisingly easy to control all twenty Puddle Jumpers. He had no problems tapping into the link they had with Atlantis and made them fly up to fend off the Daedalus.

He knew that he could no longer get to Perkins, so all that mattered now was staying in control and not being caught. The sense of power was intoxicating and he could not bear the thought of being away from the device even if it was killing him.

The plan had worked spectacularly well. He had kept them in the same formation as he made them blast away at the larger ship.

Colonel Caldwell had eventually seen sense and carried out a hyperspace jump and get away.

Newall could not risk having the Daedalus anywhere near him, as he had no control over it. It would be able to find him quickly and probably alert the others on the base to his whereabouts.

What he had not bargained on was Sheppard and McKay. He had no idea they were in the back of one of the Jumpers as he launched them all to intercept his greatest threat.

He had finally realised just after the first shots had been fired. He had seriously considered blasting them out of the sky with the other Jumpers, but he still had to get rid of the Daedalus. He considered making their Jumper crash into the sea or land, but it was a long way down and would have taken too much time and concentration.

He cursed when the larger ship was gone and he noticed that McKay and Sheppard had already managed to get control of their Jumper. They were on their way back to Atlantis.

Newall watched the sensors as the Jumper got closer to the city. He could not risk sending another Jumper after them now, because he needed to keep them in orbit just in case the Daedalus dared to come back again.

He was not sure whether they had been able to contact Caldwell, but had to assume they had. For that, they would have to be destroyed. He had no idea what kind of data or intel the Daedalus had been able to provide.

He tried to swallow, but there was nothing there. How long had it been since he had drunk or eaten anything? He was no longer sure and did not really care very much at the moment. He had work to do.

* * *

Sheppard looked across at Rodney sitting next to him in the cockpit of the Jumper. The scientist's face was terribly pale and there was a sheen of sweat on his forehead. There were dark purple bruises under his tired eyes and his nose was still swollen. Rodney's face was fixed in a permanent grimace as he typed on his tablet.

Sheppard looked down and examined his own bandaged hands. He still felt a slight chill in his extremities from his cold blast a few hours ago, but as he watched Rodney he felt an uncomfortable pang of guilt and sympathy for the beleaguered scientist. Rodney had borne the painful brunt of many side effects from the malfunctions. Not to mention a very human and brutal attack from one of his own staff members.

Compared to Rodney, Sheppard had got off lightly. Yet they all kept on forcing the injured man to continue with his duties. It could not be doing him any good.

Rodney ignored Sheppard watching him and carried on working. He winced as he shifted in his seat.

Sheppard frowned, "I thought you said all the data was gone?"

Rodney answered tiredly, "All the data about the Jumper, yes. But the operating system was still intact. I'm analysing the data from the Daedalus sensors."

"Anything?"

Rodney spun the tablet around so that Sheppard could see. There was a map of Atlantis displayed on the screen. Red crisscrossing lines covered the corridors and piers and made Sheppard frown and shake his head in confusion, "What's that?"

"It's a map of the power distribution. It shows the areas using power at the moment," he waved his free hand carefully, "Well a few minutes ago when the Daedalus got it."

He pointed to a particularly large area of red, "This is an abandoned lab. There should be no power running through this section at all. I cross-referenced it with the life signs readings."

"Let me guess. There's no one there," Sheppard said.

Rodney flattened the tablet down on his lap and sighed as he leaned over to look at the screen again as he spoke. "That's right. Which leaves us with two possibilities. Either it's shielded to hide whoever's in there or the power's being routed through the area as a decoy."

"Might also be being controlled remotely."

"Yes, hence the decoy idea," Rodney snapped.

Sheppard let McKay's angry voice wash over him. He was already highly desensitised to the rudeness so that all he heard now were the words.

Rodney frowned and shook a little as it creased his sore nose. He reached up and put his left hand on his forehead as he closed his eyes. He drew a breath through his gritted teeth, "Oh ow," he said in a quiet sigh.

Sheppard looked over at his friend in concern. Rodney was still leaning forward.

"Buck up McKay. We're nearly back now. As we now know where to look, it'll all be over soon. The second we land I'll radio a team to…What the hell?!"

Rodney's eyes snapped open in alarm and he looked up out of the Jumper's windscreen. He could only see the dark sea of Lantea in every direction as they decreased in altitude.

Sheppard brought up the HUD. There were several drones converging on their position.

"From the other Jumpers?" Rodney asked.

"No, they came from Atlantis."

Rodney narrowed his eyes, but it hurt his face again. He sighed and tried to remember to keep a neutral expression. "It's no good engaging the cloak as the Atlantis sensors can see through it. I would suggest using the shields, but too many hits will knock them out too."

Sheppard grinned at Rodney's usual enthusiastic negativity, "Looks like we'll have to rely on my piloting skills to get us through."

McKay exhaled a heavy breath.

They could now see the drones through the window without the sensors. The yellow pinpricks of light shined brightly against the dark water behind them as they approached.

Sheppard turned to Rodney, "Can you rig up a drone to detonate manually?"

"Yes, probably." Rodney gave an exasperated look at Sheppard, "If I had a whole team of scientists and about a day."

"You've got a couple of minutes or we're toast."

Rodney looked down at his tablet as he thought. "Hmm, I suppose I could attach a normal explosive to the drone. Then we can use a hand held switch to set it off."

"It doesn't have to be pretty McKay. Just get it done."

Rodney stood up just as the drones reached them.

Sheppard rolled the Jumper over a few times and watched the HUD as he saw the drones continuing to chase them.

Rodney swayed a little in disorientation. His eyes told him he should be being thrown about by the movement he saw through the window. The gravity plating and inertial dampeners meant that he felt nothing.

He quickly looked away from the window to alleviate the waves of nausea that just went through him. He walked into the rear compartment. He reached up and once again felt the horrendous pulling pain across his chest and abdomen. He tried to ignore it as he grabbed the things he needed.

Blinking through tears he returned to the cockpit. He hissed as he crouched down and levered up the floor panels with a strip of metal he had found in the storage racks.

Under the deck there were several drones stored and ready to move and be fired from the side of the craft. He grabbed the one next in the queue and grunted as he lifted it out.

"This is going to end up in another trip to the infirmary," Rodney muttered. "That is if I don't die from internal bleeding before I can get there."

Sheppard replied, "If you don't hurry it up McKay; there'll be so little of us left I don't think even Carson will be able to patch us up."

Sheppard squinted in concentration as he weaved the Jumper and rolled it around to give Rodney as much time as possible.

McKay worked a conventional explosive under the strange almost organic tendrils hanging from the end of the weapon. He clipped it in place securely and activated it. He carefully lowered the drone into its slot and sealed the deck closed.

He grabbed the hand held switch controlling the detonator and gasped as he stood up. He slowly walked the short distance back to his chair and sat down. His whole body trembled as he doubled up and rested his elbows on the control panel with his head in his hands.

He kept his eyes closed as he spoke weakly, "It's ready. What did you have in mind?"

Sheppard nodded, "Just activate the detonator when I tell you to."

He prayed that Rodney would not pass out before his plan was complete.

The enemy drones were still persevering in their efforts to take out the Jumper. Sheppard rolled it again as some passed by. They were getting closer all the time. He had so far been able to avoid them, but it was almost like they had intelligence and were beginning to learn what he would do next.

The Jumper's shield were up and just before Sheppard fired the altered drone, one of the enemy ones hit the left engine pod.

Rodney cried out as the craft jolted sharply to the right and then began to spin alarmingly fast in an anticlockwise direction.

Sheppard gritted his teeth as he deactivated the damaged engine and wrestled the Jumper back under control.

After a few heart stopping seconds, he managed to get it flying where he wanted once again. He knew that the craft's manoeuvring ability would now have diminished to such an extent that it was unlikely he would be able to avoid the enemy drones for much longer.

Sheppard asked, "Are you ready?"

Rodney was sitting back in his chair and had his right arm wrapped tightly across himself. He valiantly held the remote control for the detonator aloft in his left hand so that Sheppard saw it from the corner of his eye. "Do it."

Sheppard nodded and fired the drone. He guided it towards the group of enemy drones still stubbornly chasing the Jumper. As he knew they would, they all slalomed around the newcomer and continued on their path unhindered.

Sheppard narrowed his eyes and looped his drone around to fly back towards the enemy ones.

They ignored it, even as it flew in the midst of them.

"Okay, now!" He shouted to Rodney.

McKay hit the button and they both watched as their drone exploded and took out all the other drones which had been in the vicinity.

Rodney smiled as he watched all the lights on the HUD winking out.

Sheppard was also grinning broadly that his planned had worked so well. "Okay, let's get back to Atlantis before it happens again."

He aimed the Jumper at the city in the distance and flew it onwards through the dark night.

* * *

TBC

A/N - I got the drone info from the Tech Journals on the MGM Stargate website.


	14. The Closed Door

**Chapter 14 – The Closed Door**

Sheppard landed the Jumper in the bay and got up. He went over to McKay who stayed sitting in the co-pilot's chair. He grabbed his shoulders to help him up.

"You did good Rodney," he said encouragingly.

McKay winced as he stretched his battered muscles when he stood. "Live to fight another day, hmm Colonel," he said sadly looking at his feet.

Sheppard did not like the waves of utter defeat radiating from his friend, not only in his actions and expression, but also now in what he said.

"Sorry Rodney. I know you've had a hell of a day, but just hang on for a little while longer."

McKay looked up at Sheppard and plastered a brave and grim smile on his face, "I've been 'hanging on' since 5am. Apart from the systems' frequent attacks and what happened with Perkins; this is like a normal day for me."

Sheppard laughed and patted Rodney's shoulder as they left the Jumper. "Come on, let's get this data to Dr Weir and see what Teyla and Ronon have found out about the team from P3X-778."

* * *

Once again, the team found themselves in the darkened Briefing Room. The dull torchlight hardly cast enough of a glow for them to see each other properly.

The gate had stopped activating on its own just before the Puddle Jumpers fled the city.

Teyla spoke first, "There is only one person unaccounted for from the team who visited P3X-778 yesterday."

"Newall," Ronon grunted, looking angry.

Teyla looked at him, "_Dr Robert_ Newall."

Dr Weir pursed her lips, "Let's hope that no one else knows yet. We must not assume that it is Dr Newall doing this until we have conclusive proof."

Rodney was looking off to the side, deep in thought, "Hey! I haven't seen him since this morning. Perkins…" he shuddered and fell silent as he remembered the barrel of the gun pressing into him while he waited for the almost certain and imminent sharp pain of death to go through him.

Sheppard patted Rodney's arm, "Yes?" He asked gently.

Rodney looked up at him. "Perkins would be more likely to know about the whereabouts of Newall over the past day, as I've been in the lab and infirmary most of the time." He gestured his hand in a sweeping motion, "Well in between dashing from one crisis to another."

Dr Weir looked at him, "Will you be able to get to the section indicated in the Daedalus logs? I'd rather you went there first. When the systems are once again under our control, we can piece together today's events."

Rodney muttered, "Don't see why not. Even with the shields. I should be able to get through them eventually."

He was thinking about the best way to deactivate the shields when his radio buzzed, _"Beckett to McKay!"_

He sighed in annoyance as he tapped his headset, "I'm a little busy Carson."

"_Rodney, you have to come down to the infirmary right away."_

Carson sounded a little afraid. There was a faint hissing noise in the background. Rodney frowned in puzzlement at the sound and what could possibly have rattled the steadfast Doctor so much.

McKay looked up at the confused faces watching him, "Something's happening in the infirmary. You'll have to ask Zelenka to help you get to the powered up section."

Weir nodded, "Teyla, I would like you to go with Dr McKay. Ronon and Colonel Sheppard, take a squad of marines with stunners and help Dr Zelenka."

They all left the darkened Briefing Room and headed out to complete their assigned tasks.

* * *

Rodney left the transporter with Teyla and headed down the corridor towards the infirmary. He had a throbbing headache that pounded against his temples with every footfall. It was making him feel a little nauseous and combined with all his other hurts he was running on pure adrenaline. He rubbed his sore stomach gently, but it was little comfort against the bruises. The touch only made them hurt even more.

He drew in a sharp breath as the muscles across his abdomen contracted painfully. He could almost feel the last ounce of his strength circling the drain as it left him.

Teyla put a hand on his shoulder, "Are you alright Rodney?"

He looked at her in irritation, "Why does everyone keep asking me that?" he snapped, "Do I look alright? Why am I the only one in the whole science department still capable of walking? I bet most of them are fine and using their minor injuries as an excuse not to do any work!"

He stopped in the corridor and swayed slightly when he finished, the anger made his heart pound weakly and he felt dizzy from the exertion.

Teyla gripped his arm more tightly to keep him steady. She could understand his frustration and had to admit that he looked like he should be in the infirmary. His face was pale and had taken on an eerie ghostly and unhealthy hue. The pallor accentuated his bruised black eye sockets.

"You are doing a wonderful job," she assured him, "And do not forget that Dr Zelenka is also helping you."

Rodney grunted in agreement and started to walk forwards again.

As they got closer to the infirmary they could hear a lot of raised and panicked voices in the corridor ahead.

When they reached the source of the noise they both frowned in confusion at the chaos in front of them.

It looked like Dr Beckett had moved every patient who had been in the infirmary out into the corridor. The dishevelled Doctor was standing in the middle of the corridor barking out orders as others wheeled the patients away to a makeshift new infirmary down the corridor.

He smiled grimly when he saw Rodney and Teyla approaching and rushed over to them.

"Oh, thank God!" he said looking at Rodney and trying to ignore how sick the man looked. McKay blinked slowly at him and tried to clear the weariness from his eyes in order to focus on the scene in front of him.

Teyla was looking concerned, "What is going on Dr Beckett?"

Carson started speaking very quickly, "I was using the scanner to check on the surgery we just carried out on Corporal Murphy's leg." He looked off to the side, "Had to make sure we stopped all the bleeding from the arrow."

His eyes snapped back up to them. Teyla and Rodney were taken aback by the look of shock and fear that greeted them, "The scanner went haywire. The laser power increased to such an extent that it started to burn. We only just got the Corporal out from under the machine before he was cut in half. He has some severe burns which we're treating now."

Teyla was looking shocked now, but Rodney was just too tired to feel anything anymore.

Carson continued, "We had to evacuate everyone, because the lasers began moving around the infirmary, like they were tracking something."

Rodney looked up at him and raised his chin, "Why didn't you just unplug it?"

Carson sighed in exasperation, "We couldn't get anywhere near it without it honing in on us and trying to burn holes through anyone who approached."

Rodney folded his arms over his chest. It made him wince and he quickly unfolded them as he shuddered and closed his eyes.

Carson rushed over and grabbed his wrist to check his pulse while Teyla held onto him to make sure he did not fall.

"Too fast," Carson said frowning. He needed to check on Rodney's internal injuries and make sure they were not seriously bleeding. Without the scanner and access to all of the medical equipment in the infirmary, there was nothing he could do for the man at the moment.

Carson peered at Rodney's pale and tired face in concern, "When was the last time you ate anything?"

Rodney shrugged as he pulled his wrist from the Doctor's clutches and gazed at him defiantly, "I don't remember. And what makes you think _I_ can get anywhere near the scanner to shut it down?"

"Oh Rodney, I thought you'd be able to turn it off remotely," Carson said sadly.

McKay huffed in annoyance at the demand. He was almost used to them assuming he could do anything now, but it still made him angry especially when he was in constant, constant pain now and they were still treating him in the usual way.

Teyla handed him the tablet she had been carrying and helped him as he slid down the wall to sit on the floor as he worked.

She then walked over and peered cautiously through the door. She frowned when she noticed there was a thin laser beam emanating from the medical scanner and cutting through at a specific point on one of the walls. There was a loud sound of burning and hissing metal as the laser slowly made its way through the wall.

She turned to Carson, "Why is it pointing at that wall?"

"I don't know. It focused on that point as soon as we were all clear."

"What is on the other side?"

Carson thought about it for a moment and then looked up at Teyla with his eyes wide in shock, "The isolation lab! Dr Perkins is still in there."

Teyla tapped her radio and contacted the marines guarding Perkins. She quickly asked them to move him to a safer location.

* * *

Sheppard walked towards the nearest transporter with Dr Zelenka and Ronon. He was looking forward to finally catching the person responsible for the events and getting some sleep. He looked at his watch; 11pm. It was getting late.

They had already filled Zelenka in on what they had found out and their suspicions as to who was behind the incidents.

Zelenka kept his silence after they implicated one of his colleague for the attacks.

When they rounded the corner, there was a squad of four marines waiting for them armed with stunners.

Sheppard nodded at them and the entire group crammed into the transporter. Zelenka reached out and tapped the map of Atlantis in the location closest to their destination.

There was a fairly loud and negative sounding bleep as he pressed the controls and nothing happened. He frowned and tried again.

Sheppard asked, "What's wrong?"

"I do not know…" Zelenka trailed off and began muttering in Czech as he pulled a lead from his computer and interfaced it with the transporter.

He typed on the screen and his face fell as he studied the data.

"Something is very wrong. I cannot tell why from here, but there is no access to the outer transporter locations of the city. The only working transporters are located in the Central Tower."

Sheppard was just about to ask if Zelenka knew why, when a citywide broadcast interrupted him.

"_Dr McKay and Dr Zelenka to the Control Room immediately."_

* * *

Teyla crouched down next to Rodney as he worked. "Dr Perkins has been moved. He is safe."

Rodney flinched as though she had punched him

Teyla felt terribly bad for Rodney, but thought that he would want to know. His hands shook slightly as he typed.

After a few minutes he looked up from his position still seated on the floor, "I've located the power conduit we need to disconnect to shut down the scanner. However, it's on the other side of the infirmary. We could shoot it, but that might damage the scanner and I dread to think what Beckett's reaction would be to that."

Teyla nodded, "Can we get to it any other way?"

Rodney stared at the tablet for a few more seconds, "No."

"Tell me what I need to do," Teyla said.

"No no no no no!" Rodney said with his eyes wide, "The beam is strong enough to kill!"

"It was pointing at the wall towards Dr Perkins a moment ago. I believe I will be able to avoid it for long enough to accomplish the task."

Rodney heaved himself upright and leant against the wall for support. He needed to check on the beam so he walked over to the open doorway with Teyla behind him.

As he looked around the corner of the doorway he saw that the laser was still pointing in the same spot. He turned to Teyla and smiled at her grimly as she had been right.

As he was looking at her, Teyla's eyes opened widely and she grabbed hold of Rodney and shoved him sideways with incredible strength.

Rodney had not been expecting an attack and was been taken off guard. He flew a little way along the corridor and had all the breath torn from his body as he landed heavily on his side. Teyla went down with him and rolled clear of the open doorway.

"What…the hell…was that…for?" Rodney said between gasps, as he lay on his back with both arms across his chest as his breathing hitched in pain.

Teyla knelt down beside him and put a hand on his shoulder, "The beam tracked swiftly across the room a few seconds after we saw it. It was coming right for us."

"Oh…okay," Rodney said quietly with his eyes closed, "Thanks."

"You are most welcome Dr McKay."

Rodney opened his eyes slowly after he got his breathing under control and the pain faded away to its normal level. "What's the beam doing now?"

Teyla narrowed her eyes at him and got up. She walked over to the doorway and chanced a look inside. She then stepped fully into the open space.

"Teyla be careful!" Rodney called from where he was still lying on the floor.

She frowned at what she saw and walked back over to crouch next to him, "It did not move at all this time." She paused for a moment and studied Rodney's face, she considered him for a moment and made her decision, he needed to know. "It is pointing at you Rodney."

He closed his eyes again in fear and then looked at Teyla once more, "Great, just great. Well it's not the first time something or someone's tried to kill me today. I should be used to it by now."

Teyla helped him as he sat up slowly and then got up onto his shaky legs.

"_Dr McKay and Dr Zelenka to the Control Room immediately."_

"Oh, what now!" Rodney said in anger as he had only just successfully managed to stand upright without the support of Teyla.

She looked back towards the door, "I do not believe it would be safe for us to try and deactivate the laser."

Rodney looked at her and nodded in agreement, "I don't feel like being chopped up very much either. Let's go and see what new calamity has started this time."

She rescued the tablet which had flown from his hands as she had pushed him out of the way of the beam. She kept close to him in case he stumbled as they made their way back to the transporter.

Rodney tried not to think about the laser beam constantly pointing at him as it ate through the wall and got closer and closer to its intention of cutting through him.

* * *

Sheppard's team met up with Rodney and Teyla halfway to the Control Room. They exchanged puzzled looks as they kept walking.

They passed by a window and stopped to look out.

"Oh no no no!" Rodney said as he saw the familiar yellow and red of the city shield as it blanketed the Central Tower where they now stood.

They walked faster to get to their destination and Ronon helped Rodney to keep up.

Teyla went over and had a quiet word with Sheppard that none of the others heard. He nodded to her and she went a different way as they entered the Gate Room.

McKay and Zelenka went up the stairs and Dr Weir did not need to say anything to them as they both sat down and started to frantically type on the computers.

The shield had been shrunk so that it only encompassed the Central Tower.

Teyla returned quickly and handed an MRE and a bottle of water to Rodney. He gratefully accepted them and ate as he worked.

Sheppard smiled at Teyla and gave her the thumbs up so that Rodney did not see it.

After a few minutes, Zelenka stopped typing and turned to Dr Weir, his face was down in an expression sadness, "There's only one thing we can do now."

McKay stopped working and looked at the ground, "But we can't…"

"Rodney…" Zelenka said slowly, "It's the only way."

Dr Weir glanced between them in confusion, "Gentlemen, what do you have in mind?"

Zelenka said, "We need to unplug the ZPM."

Rodney looked up and narrowed his eyes, "Which is as good as giving up and abandoning the city."

Zelenka frowned at McKay. "No one said anything about abandoning Atlantis. We unplug the ZPM, find the person responsible and then we can plug it back in."

Rodney looked back at the laptop he was working on, "Hmm, there's just one slight problem with that plan."

Zelenka went over and stood behind him, "Oh," he said in a small voice.

"What is it?" Weir asked in concern.

Rodney looked up at Weir with his eyes wide in panic, "The shield has been collapsed to such an extent that the ZedPM Room is now outside the area. No one can go through the shield and get to the room. We're trapped."

* * *

Newall watched in growing anger as he saw McKay trying to break through his control to deactivate the shield in order to get to the ZPM.

Newall now felt deep hatred for the man, possibly even more than he had felt towards Perkins. He had been quickly pushed back after every step forward by the stubborn and irritating Chief Scientist.

All the systems he had once controlled were now inaccessible due to the actions of McKay.

He now wished that he had not stopped the doors from crushing the man earlier. If he had kept going, the doors would have eventually broken all of McKay's ribs and killed him. If that had happened then Newall would not be in this situation now. Perkins would be dead and he could have abandoned The Key and gone back to his normal job. Eventually he would have been able to win over Dr Li. No one would ever have known about what he had done.

Everything that had happened was McKay's fault. Newall would have stopped hours ago had he not intervened. Dr Li would be healthy and not lying at Death's door in the infirmary. He had been blocked at every turn and it infuriated him.

McKay had to be stopped and punished for his actions.

Newall smiled as an evil scheme formed in the back of his mind. He reached out with his control and called a patiently waiting Puddle Jumper down towards him from orbit.

* * *

TBC


	15. The End of the Road

**Chapter 15 – The End of the Road**

Rodney typed frantically on the laptop. He could almost feel the eyes burrowing into him as everyone in the Control Room stared at his back in expectation.

He had nothing though. He had tried every way he could think of to shut down the shield trapping them, but the systems were just as unresponsive as always.

His head throbbed with every thump of his heart and the food he had just eaten was threatening to come back up again.

He swallowed quickly and breathed through his mouth to try and still the nausea as he glared at the useless computer in front of him.

Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon stood at the side out of Rodney's way. They watched in helplessness as the scientist worked.

Sheppard was glad Teyla had got something for Rodney to eat, as he studied the man's frustrated features he thought he could see a little colour returning.

After a few tense minutes and several loud sighs from both Zelenka and McKay with some vigorous and pained forehead rubbing on Rodney's part, Dr Weir went over to them and asked what everyone else had been thinking.

"How's it going gentlemen?"

Zelenka shrugged and shook his head as he continued to type.

Rodney swivelled round in his chair to face her, "We're completely locked out of everything now. All that we can do is watch the systems and there's no way of knowing whether the data we are seeing is correct." He winced and put a hand on his forehead again.

Weir started at this and went over to him. Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon were over in a second as well. They crowded around him as he leaned over and shuddered, cradling his head in both hands.

When he looked up he gave a weak smile at the concerned faces peering down at him. "Just got a bit of a headache. It doesn't matter, I need to get access back to the city so we can stop this."

He turned his chair to face the laptop again and hunched over while he worked.

Sheppard exchanged an exasperated look with everyone else. Teyla was frowning though and she moved closer to Rodney, "Carson gave you some painkillers for that earlier. Have you remembered to take any?"

Rodney looked up at her blearily and patted his pocket. He drew out a battered and squashed box of pills that he had a vague memory of a certain Scottish Doctor shoving into his hands a few hours ago.

He smiled grimly, "I've been so busy. I didn't realise how bad it was getting."

He took a couple of the tablets and grimaced as he went back to work.

Sheppard felt a little happier, but Carson had been right; Rodney was difficult to monitor especially when he ignored his own pain to try and save everyone else. It was only when he was on the verge of collapse that they finally noticed.

Sheppard made a mental note to keep a closer eye on the tricky scientist, but he knew it would be nigh on impossible to stop Rodney from working. The stubborn streak in McKay always meant he worked himself to the point of exhaustion and beyond every time the city was in peril. Sacrificing his own health for the survival of everyone else.

After a few more minutes, Zelenka and McKay both looked up at the same time. Rodney turned around again and Zelenka frowned at him in confusion.

Zelenka spoke first, "There _is_ one thing we could do."

Rodney scowled at him and then turned back to Dr Weir, "But you're not going to like it. In fact I think it's a bad idea."

He paused for a moment and Weir shifted awkwardly. It was almost as if Rodney was waiting for everyone else to catch up and figure it out.

He frowned when no one spoke and sighed, "We need to shut down all the shield generators we can find." He looked down at his hands in his lap, "And by 'shut down' I mean cut the cables like everything else we've had to deactivate today."

Sheppard shook his head and glared at Rodney, "That's a _terrible_ idea."

Zelenka looked back at him defiantly, "It's the _only_ idea we have, and the only thing which would work."

Weir narrowed her eyes at Rodney when he looked to her for her opinion, "I'm afraid I agree with the Colonel, Dr McKay. We would be completely defenceless for as long as it took to repair the generators."

Rodney held his hands out in front of him with the palms upwards as he spoke intensely, "We're completely defenceless now anyway. There's no way of knowing whether the Wraith are in orbit. Even if we knew we have no control over anything."

Weir turned to Sheppard and as they glanced at each other something passed between them. She pursed her lips and looked back to the two scientists waiting for her decision, "We're not quite there yet I'm afraid. Keep working, I'm not about to authorise the possible destruction of the greatest defence we have against the Wraith."

Rodney sighed in annoyance and nodded. He turned back to the laptop and had only been typing for a few seconds when the screen turned off.

"What the hell…" he muttered as he looked up feeling even more lost.

All the lights in the Control Room and then the Gate Room suddenly turned off and the usual hum of electricity and the constant whirring of the Earth computer equipment was silenced.

The darkness pressed heavily on everyone in the Control Room and Sheppard's voice cut through it harshly, "_McKay!_ This isn't what we had in mind…"

Rodney's high-pitched and panicked voice replied to the accusation, "I didn't do anything!"

Several people had managed to find some torches in the darkness and clicked them on. One of the lights passed over Rodney's face and everyone saw the mixture of terror and anger mingled together in his features. "No no no no no! This can only mean one thing! The ZedPM has been taken! Without properly routing the systems and carefully shutting them down it's effectively disabled power to the whole base. This means that at the moment absolutely nothing will be working."

Sheppard turned quickly to Teyla and Ronon, "You're on me, let's get to the ZPM Room and see if we can catch whoever took it."

Weir nodded at him with her brows knitted together, "Be careful."

Rodney said, "But it's right at the bottom of the Tower. They'll be long gone before you get there."

Sheppard rolled his eyes, "Let us worry about that McKay. You just get something working before we get back."

Rodney grimaced as he got up from the chair and went over to help Zelenka with hooking up some Naquadah generators.

* * *

Dr Newall smiled as he worked. He was setting a cunning trap that he knew McKay would fall into. He was so certain that the predictable scientist would follow along the path he laid out. It would all be very easy. Even if the others killed him in the end, he would at least die knowing he had had his revenge on the one man who had made his simple plan fall apart.

He set the Puddle Jumper to hover where he needed it. He then fired a drone from Atlantis high up into the sky. He set it on an autopilot course he had devised. An hour should be enough time.

He tore his hand away from the podium and frowned at the panel as it lowered into the ground. He only needed a few minutes and he had already locked all of the systems to only respond to his commands, even when he was disconnected from the city.

He had also siphoned enough power into a buffer he had found to give the Stargate enough power for two activations only. Any more and his plan would fail.

He shuffled his leaden feet as he walked along the corridor and entered the transporter.

He tried to whistle as he left the transporter and walked into the ZPM Room at the base of the Central Tower. His lips were too dry and cracked for him to form any sound. He frowned and shook his head.

McKay and his team would be set back spectacularly by what he was about to do. He smiled again and disconnected the ZPM without shutting down any of the systems connected to it.

He was instantly plunged into blissful near total darkness. He could only croak as his throat would not let him make any noise in triumph.

The ZPM he tucked under his arm remained lit in a soft yellow glow and made it possible to see the corridor in front of him as he approached the balcony.

He smiled again as he saw the Puddle Jumper hovering obediently in front of him. He opened the rear hatch with a wave of his right hand and climbed inside.

* * *

McKay and Zelenka stood at the back of the Control Room trying to rig up a generator by torchlight. Rodney's hands shook as he worked and Zelenka had to keep helping him as he fumbled with the cables.

"How's your head, Rodney?" Zelenka asked quietly as he caught his friend when he was about to plug a cable into the wrong socket.

McKay looked back at him in sadness and tiredness, "Pretty bad. But it's like everything else at the moment. I think I'm about ready to drop. I just… I can't…" He looked away and massaged his temples, wincing as his bruised chest reminded him not to move so quickly.

Zelenka peered back at him with his brow furrowed and spoke quietly again, "Don't worry Rodney. We'll get it back."

McKay gave him a grim smile and clasped his shaking hands together. They were still quite sore from the burns, but not to such an extent as his aching head, chest and belly. He looked at them as he held them tightly in front of himself. He wished that through holding them like that it would do something to numb the rest of the pain he was in. The bandages were now so dirty he could see the filth even in the dull torchlight a gate technician was holding up behind them. They were unravelling at the edges and he unclasped his hands to tuck the ends back underneath. He grimaced at the metaphor with his own situation and steeled himself to carry on working.

After a few more minutes they had the generator rigged up and enough power to activate the emergency lighting and systems in the Control Room.

Rodney and Zelenka got up and went over to one of the computers. McKay sat down and shifted about impatiently as it booted up. He used the precious seconds to rest his eyes.

Dr Weir came up behind him, "Rodney?"

"What? Yes," he blurted out and snapped his eyes to look at the screen. His vision was blurred for a moment, so he blinked and the display soon came into focus.

He ran a quick check over the systems they had access to. He jumped up from his seat and turned his wide eyes to Dr Weir.

"We need to evacuate the Gate Room! Now!"

She gave him a puzzled and calming look to try and diffuse his panic. "What's wrong?"

"A Puddle Jumper on the sensors. It's heading this way!"

He scrambled to try and get away, but he was not fast enough.

The window behind the gate shattered inwards and showered the floor of the Gate Room in glass. Some pieces were blasted upwards and hit the people still standing in the Control Room.

They all threw their hands up to protect their faces and were luckily only subjected to some minor cuts on their exposed skin.

Rodney straightened up and dabbed a hand to his cheek. It came away with a small amount of blood on his fingertips. He grimaced as he rubbed his fingers together and then on his trousers to get rid of the sticky sensation as he looked down into the Gate Room.

The Puddle Jumper flew backwards through the destroyed window and passed through the inactive gate. It rose upwards towards the closed doors leading into the Jumper Bay.

Rodney knew what was going to happen next and he rushed over to the DHD to try and disconnect the gate, but he was not fast enough.

The wormhole formed and the Jumper slid through a moment before the gate deactivated.

Rodney looked at the inert gate in shock with his eyes wide in the dull emergency lighting.

Weir looked at him, she had a few small cuts on her face and hands, "Where did it go?"

Rodney shook his head and without blinking he turned to her, "P3X-778."

Dr Weir tapped her headset; they were still using the short-range Earth based military radios since they had lost control of the communications array. "Dr Weir to Colonel Sheppard. Meet back in the Control Room. We have a situation."

She turned to Zelenka who was on the computer Rodney had vacated, "Radek, I would like you to go down and assist Dr Beckett. I called a couple of the less injured scientists to help him with a generator, but I would like you to make sure everything is alright and then head back up to try and get the long range communications back online. We could really use the help of the Daedalus right now."

He nodded and left to begin the slow journey downwards without using the transporter.

Weir now turned to Rodney, "I need you to go with Colonel Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon to P3X-778 and get our ZPM back. I also think that whoever was in control of that Jumper is the person we've been looking for."

He looked back at her in fear and spoke rapidly in his panic, "But the only Jumper we have was nearly blasted out of the sky earlier. I know Sheppard can fly anything, even if it's not meant to fly, but I don't like the prospect of enduring orbital re-entry in a clapped out ship with only one working engine."

Weir gave him a reassuring smile, "I'm sure it won't be a problem. You're our last hope."

Rodney sighed in disgust, "Way to pile the pressure on."

She smiled more broadly and narrowed her eyes, "I have every confidence that you'll be able to get it back."

He rolled his eyes and left to get geared up for the ZPM search and rescue operation.

* * *

TBC

A/N - Oooo, a field trip… uh oh!


	16. Tricks and Traps

**Chapter 16 – Tricks and Traps**

Sheppard brought up the HUD the moment the Puddle Jumper flew through the space gate high in orbit above P3X-778. He quickly honed it in on their target.

The rogue Jumper was already in the lower atmosphere and very close to the Ancient lab the other team had visited the day before.

Ronon leaned forwards in his seat to get closer to Rodney, "Maybe we can head the thief off. Can you make this thing fly any faster?"

Rodney looked up, but did not turn to Ronon, "With what! We're lucky it's flying at all on one engine. Unless you want to overload and make the single remaining engine explode."

Ronon tilted his head to the side and sat back heavily in his seat.

Sheppard pushed as much power as he dared from the Jumper as they descended towards the planet's surface.

It was light on the side where they were heading. The daylight was a strange shock to the occupants of the craft; it was near to midnight and still in the dead of night back on Atlantis.

It made Rodney feel like he had just pulled yet another all-nighter in the lab. He frequently lost track of the time due to his excitement over a new piece of Ancient Tech. He remembered greeting the morning with tired and bleary eyes after every occasion. He always had trouble focusing his mind after staying up all night.

Sheppard frowned at the HUD, "I'm reading one life sign on the other Jumper."

Teyla asked, "Is it Dr Newall?"

Sheppard shrugged. Rodney worked on the tablet he was leaning over, "Yes. I'm picking up his subcutaneous transmitter. Hmm, there's a massive power reading from the Jumper. I hope he's not draining the ZedPM by plugging it into the ship."

Sheppard tapped the comm, "Jumper Three to Jumper Seven."

There was no reply. "Colonel Sheppard to Dr Newall. Respond." There was still nothing, not even static.

Sheppard flew the Jumper further down towards the planet. From this high up they could all see a huge jungle covering most of the continent they were fast approaching. At the edges of the land in the distance they could see the sea until it was broken by the horizon.

They were still a few miles up when Sheppard spoke again, "He's landed and continuing on foot."

Rodney analysed the data in more detail, "He's still got the ZedPM. It's showing up on the sensors like a beacon. Hmm…" He frowned as he stopped speaking and looked across at Sheppard, "This is all very easy. He's had the power to control Atlantis and lock us out of everything. He's been able to manipulate the sensors to show us things that weren't there and hide other things from us."

Teyla said, "Do you think he is leading us into a trap?"

Ronon fingered the handle of his blaster as he spoke, "Unless he's just getting sloppy. Even if he is leading us into a trap, we need that ZPM back. It's only one man, we can take him."

Rodney spun around in his chair to face the Satedan, "One man yes, but he's had us running around in circles all day. He's also had the power to kill and left us completely helpless to stop him."

"Until now…" Sheppard said as he chose a clearing as close to the Ancient lab as possible in the midst of the thick and extremely tall trees.

Rodney looked at the sensor data once more as the Jumper landed and crushed a few small bushes in the clearing. "He's in the Ancient lab now. There are no additional power readings. We need to get over there as fast as possible, in case there's anything left for him to activate."

Sheppard nodded and they all grabbed their gear and stepped out of the rear hatch.

As they walked through the tangled undergrowth, Rodney was holding a scanner in his left hand and had somehow managed to heave a rucksack on his back. He was huffing and gasping and resting his right forearm against his stomach as they walked.

Sheppard went over to him, "What the hell have you got in that rucksack McKay?"

He scowled at Sheppard and spoke through gritted teeth, "Essential supplies and enough room and padding to protect a ZedPM."

Ronon was at the front of the group and was hacking through the low branches to clear a path for them. He was quite a good distance ahead before he turned back, "I thought you said we needed to be fast?"

Rodney was panting in pain now and his face had a sheen of sweat covering it. "I'm moving as fast as I can," He muttered, "It's not easy to walk when you can't breathe. Why is it we always end up in the jungle and why does is it have to be so damn hot here?"

Sheppard rolled his eyes and went over to him. He held out a hand and Rodney reluctantly handed over the rucksack.

A strong gust of wind high in the treetops made the branches sway and the rustling sound as leaves fell through the canopy made speech impossible for a few seconds.

Teyla looked up and watched the leaves as they slowly floated down.

As they continued onwards, Rodney was still breathing quickly, but only gasped when he missed his footing in the thick leaf mulch and sticks on the ground. Teyla kept close to him to catch him if he tripped and Sheppard shook his head every now and then in exasperation as he carried the rucksack at the rear of the group.

After a few more minutes Rodney held up his hand, but kept looking at the scanner, "It's just over there behind that tree." He pointed to an enormous tree to the right of the team. It was so tall they could not see the top.

Ronon took point and lead them out into another clearing, which was dominated by a reasonably well hidden Ancient Lab. The structure was completely above ground and fairly large. Tree branches hung down over the clearing and cast dark shadows over the lab as they blocked the sunlight quite effectively.

Rodney was still examining the scanner, oblivious to the lab and the movements of his team around him. Sheppard and Teyla stood in front of him to make sure he was well protected.

"He's right in the middle of the structure now. I'm still only reading the power source which must be emanating from our stolen ZedPM."

Sheppard kept his P90 trained on the building, "Can we get inside?"

"Yes," Rodney said distractedly, "Oh…no no no!"

"What now?" Ronon grumbled.

Rodney looked up at them with wide unblinking eyes, "He's activated a shield around the centre of the lab. It extends almost to the outer wall, but not quite."

Teyla asked, "Can you find a way to deactivate it from a panel in the outer wall?"

Rodney blinked at her, "Possibly."

They continued to cover him as they made their way over to the only visible door in the structure. It was open and inside they could see a short corridor with another door at the end.

Sheppard stepped up to the door first and looked warily inside.

Rodney breezed past him and pulled a panel off the wall just inside the corridor. He snapped his fingers at Sheppard, "Bag."

Sheppard sighed and handed it over to Rodney, who absently held his hand out as he continued to study the exposed wiring in the wall.

They could see the faint red outline of the shield's edge in front of the sealed door in the corridor. Ronon moved inside and went past McKay to make sure he was between the distracted scientist and the shield.

Rodney had just finished prying free some loose wiring to cut, when the shield shimmered for a moment.

Sheppard had been watching from outside, "Get out now!" He shouted.

Rodney looked up at Sheppard in alarm, the wire cutters poised to snip the lead he had singled out.

Ronon rushed past him and grabbed the handle on the back of his tac vest.

Sheppard and Teyla watched in horror as the shield suddenly grew and passed right through Rodney. Ronon was not so lucky though and the shield did not pass through him. It forced him forwards roughly and he yanked Rodney as his grip on the man's tac vest was torn away.

They both fell over and the shield continued to shove Ronon along the ground for a few more seconds, ploughing up the leaves into a pile in front of him. The shield was now completely covering the whole structure.

Rodney landed heavily and lost the wire cutters he had been holding. He grimaced and closed his eyes as he lay on the ground in the soft leafy carpet, hugging his arms around his upper torso.

"Rodney!" Teyla called out to him.

Sheppard offered a hand to Ronon and pulled him to his feet. He then went over as close as possible to McKay and lifted his hand out slowly to test the shield. It did not shock him, but even as he pushed with all his might, he could not break through.

"What the hell was that?" Rodney muttered miserably as he moved one of his hands up and held his head. He slowly rolled onto all fours and stood up with a small whimper.

Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon stood helplessly on the other side of the shield as he turned to look at them. Sheppard spoke first, "The shield passed right through you. You need to find a way to turn it off so that we can help you."

Rodney nodded and grimaced. He walked back towards the panel he had been working on. He crouched down and dug around in the rucksack looking for a spare scanner and some more wire cutters as he had lost both somewhere in the deep leaf cover on the ground when he was pulled away by Ronon.

He grabbed a scanner from the rucksack triumphantly and tapped the screen a few times. His eyes widened and he turned his frightened face to the rest of his team waiting expectantly just beyond the edge of the shield trapping him.

He did not have time to convey what he had found, because the door behind him into the lab opened and the shield rapidly shrunk and approached him at an alarming speed.

He looped a hand around one of the shoulder straps of the rucksack, gripped the scanner tightly to his chest and closed his eyes. He cried out as the edge of the shield hit him and knocked him over pushing him through the door.

The door slammed behind him and cut him off from the others as he was forced against his will to enter the complex.

* * *

Dr Zelenka came back to the Gate Room fairly quickly after Dr Weir had sent him down to check on Carson in the make shift infirmary they had set up. He sat down at a laptop and nodded at Dr Weir.

"They are fine," he said to her, "The generator was set up quickly and all of Dr Beckett's patients are now safe."

She sighed in relief and went over and stood next to him as he worked on the laptop next to the DHD. "Colonel Sheppard's team left for P3X-778 a few minutes ago. I advised them we would dial the gate every hour to check on their progress." _Not that there was anything they could do for them without access to any more Puddle Jumpers._

Zelenka stopped typing, "This is very strange." He pressed a few more keys and then looked up at her. "We now have access to the long range communicator and should be able to call the Daedalus."

"Really?" She frowned, "Any idea why?"

Zelenka shook his head and pushed his glasses up on his nose, "Perhaps because the ZPM has been taken and we are running the base on generators."

Weir said, "Patch me through."

He typed a few more keys and nodded at her. She reached up and tapped her radio, "Atlantis to the Daedalus."

"_This is Colonel Caldwell of the Daedalus. Are we glad to hear from you."_

Dr Weir smiled, "I'm sorry Colonel, we've had a few problems."

"_Would you like us to come back and help?"_

"The last thing we knew the Puddle Jumpers were still in orbit above Atlantis. There's too much of a risk they could attack again. If we beam people to them they may be uncontrollable or booby-trapped. I think it would be best if you headed to P3X-778 at full speed. Our ZPM has been taken and Sheppard and his team are trying to retrieve it. We would be grateful if you could offer them your assistance."

_"P3X-778 is a few hours away, but we'll go there straight away and keep in touch. Daedalus out."_

Dr Weir smiled in relief. They were no longer cut off from Sheppard's team. Hopefully they would soon have the ZPM back and be able to retrieve and help the person responsible. _If they are still in a position to be receptive to any help we can offer_, she thought sadly.

Zelenka typed away for a few more minutes and Weir asked, "Do we have access to anything else yet?"

"Yes, a few things. I am just going through the systems to check. Ah, the sensors."

The colour rapidly drained from his face and he looked up at Weir in shock, "There is a drone on a collision course with this section of the Central Tower."

She rushed over to him and looked at the screen of the computer. "Can you stop it," she asked in an even tone.

"No. We do not have enough power to launch another drone to intercept it or to raise the shield."

"How long do we have?"

Zelenka did a quick mental calculation, "Less than sixty seconds."

Dr Weir's eyes widened and she called out to everyone in the Control and Gate Rooms. "Everyone out now! Assemble in the Mess Hall."

They quickly obeyed. Zelenka passed the laptop to Dr Weir and grabbed a couple of technicians to help him unplug the Naquadah generator and carry it out of the Control Room.

They were once again plunged into total darkness as the power source was removed. They all scrambled down the stairs and across the floor of the Gate Room.

They were thankfully all clear and halfway down the stairs leading away from the Gate Room when the drone hit.

There was a loud explosion and a slight tremor ran through the floor and walls of the city.

* * *

Rodney lay gasping for breath on the floor where he had stopped. He had his eyes closed tightly as he tried to control his breathing and pounding heart. His bruises were throbbing angrily at the recent assault and made it difficult for him to consider ever moving again.

He could still feel the reassuring weight of the rucksack strap around his hand, but he had lost the scanner.

After a moment he cracked his eyes open to find out what predicament he was in this time.

He was met by a sideways view of a wide curved corridor, as he was lying curled up on the ground. He allowed himself a tight smile as he saw the scanner lying a little way from him on the floor.

He reached up and tapped his radio and spoke quietly, "McKay to Sheppard."

There was only static in reply. He sighed.

"McKay to Ronon? Teyla?" All he could hear was more static.

He forced himself over and crawled to retrieve the scanner. He activated it and sat down on the ground to study the screen.

He could only see the objects within the shield and saw a massive energy reading surrounding a single life sign on the other side of the curved corridor he was in.

He thought for a few minutes as he examined the power readings from the lab. He noticed in resignation that the shield generator was also in the centre of the room. Newall must have plugged the ZPM directly into it and the only way to shut it down would be to cut off the power supply at the source.

He left the rucksack behind and unholstered his sidearm as he got up onto his unsteady feet. He almost wished he had a P90, but as Ronon had said, it was only one man.

He approached the only door leading into the central chamber and raised his gun ready. The scanner showed that the life sign was not moving and Rodney did not really want to shoot his colleague if he could avoid it. He felt adrenaline coursing through him as he approached the door and his hands shook slightly in apprehensive expectation of what was to come.

He knew all the previous events of the day had been leading to this moment. He could not help the growing feelings of dread and dismay gripping his heart as he got closer to the open door. His fear was palpable in his throat as the gap in the wall leered at him and invited him to enter.

Newall had so much control over everything that Rodney was almost certain that whatever was about to happen would hurt him a lot or possibly even kill him. That was unless he could incapacitate Newall first, but it did not bear thinking about.

He raised the gun even higher as he stepped through the door.

For the second time that day, he found himself facing the barrel of a gun and for an instant all the events of the day since his rude awakening came crashing down on him. He felt exhausted even as a fresh wave of adrenaline surged through his veins.

What happened next was so fast that he did not have a chance.

Three shots rang out in rapid succession in the small room.

Rodney felt the hot breeze from the first bullet as it whipped past him close to his head. The second bullet grazed his upper leg and he cried out as he fell sideways.

A sharp pain went through him as the third bullet penetrated his body. It was so shocking and unexpected that he was unable to localise the source of the agony and his vision greyed as he carried on falling down.

When he finally hit the ground Rodney's world went blissfully black.

* * *

TBC

A/N – Poor, poor McKay…


	17. No Rest for the Weary

Thanks for all the lovely reviews and the kind/motivational demands… uh I mean _encouragement_ from the whumpers over on the GateWorld Forums…

**Chapter 17 - No Rest for the Weary**

Dr Newall found it was easy to find what he needed once he was inside the Ancient lab on P3X-778.

When he had been there the day before with his team he had not seen anything. However, the device in his hand showed him the way and he crouched down in the centre of the empty room.

He waved his right hand over the bare floor and a pillar identical to those he had used on Atlantis rose up.

He knew he did not have very much time to set up his trap. He already knew that the lure he had devised was working and the other Jumper chasing him had followed so predictably.

Newall sighed in relief as he lifted up the ZPM and the centre of the pillar opened. He slotted it inside and placed his hand on top of the small structure.

He instantly forgot about his tiredness, hunger and dry throat as soon as he interfaced with the device. He felt the systems in the whole structure as they powered on. The feeling of control was not quite as intoxicating as it had been on Atlantis, but there was something he was unfamiliar with at the periphery of his mind.

He pushed the strange sensation to one side and worked quickly to familiarise himself with the systems.

Nodding in satisfaction he raised the shield but left a small panel accessible. He knew McKay would try and use it to get inside.

He watched as four life signs made there way through the forest and then stood outside the structure.

McKay's fake ATA gene shone out brightly in mockery on the sensors, which Newall had calibrated to pick out with no more than a thought.

He was angry when he saw another figure between the shield and his target, but knew it was Ronon. The pesky Satedan was trying to make Newall's plan fail.

He quickly reconfigured the shield to pass through Ancient gene carriers and snagged Rodney inside; grateful that Sheppard was clear. He then dragged McKay inside the corridor and widened the shield again to trap his team outside along with any chance for the man's salvation.

Newall watched as his final trap was sprung. McKay had nowhere to go and no panels or Ancient technology he could use. It was just the man alone now and he no longer had any genius plans to hide behind.

As predictably as ever, McKay approached Newall in the corridor.

Newall unholstered the gun he had taken from the Jumper and held it in his left hand. He pointed it unwaveringly at the open door he knew his victim was about to walk through. He had to keep his right hand on the pillar to make sure the shield remained operational until McKay was dead.

The moment Rodney walked through the door; Newall squeezed the trigger quickly three times. He cursed his lousy aim while using his non-dominant hand as one bullet missed, one sliced across McKay's right thigh and the other slugged him in the left side. Newall had been aiming for the man's head.

Blood flew out behind Rodney from his leg as he fell down and lay unmoving on his side on the ground.

Newall watched with grim satisfaction as McKay's blood flowed out onto the floor and began to spread in a pool around him. He checked the life sign readings and saw that Rodney was still alive, but losing blood at the rate he was; it would not be very much longer until Newall could finally relinquish his control; his task completed.

Newall shrugged after a few seconds of watching the bleeding and dying man and turned back to the device. He was curious about what this lab did that was so different to Atlantis and wanted to know the cause of the nagging feeling deep inside him since he had linked.

He took no more heed of McKay and left him where he had fallen as he was distracted by the device.

* * *

Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon stood beyond the shield and watched helplessly as Rodney went over to the entrance of the lab and tried to find a way to get back to them.

Sheppard's heart sank when he saw his friend turn to him with wide frightened eyes and then close them tightly as if steeling himself for some imminent terrible event that only he knew about. The question on John's lips did not even get a chance to be spoken before it was answered.

Ronon roared as they watched Rodney being pushed into the structure by the shield. A yelp escaped from the scientist, but was quickly silenced by the door which shut behind him hiding him from his team-mates.

They watched as the shield shimmered and then expanded to once again cover the entire lab.

Ronon ran forwards and slammed his shoulder into the shield at full tilt. Making no headway, he backed up slightly and tried again.

Sheppard grabbed Ronon's other shoulder when he stepped back for another pass at the unyielding shield. "Easy big guy! We can't get through."

Teyla was standing still in shock and looked between both men. Her face was a mask of worry, "How are we going to get to Rodney?"

"Was trying…" Ronon grunted as he attempted to break free from Sheppard's grip to charge the shield again.

"And it won't do anything for him except break your shoulder!" Sheppard said.

Teyla pinched her features together and looked at the shield preventing them from getting to Rodney. "We could check the outer edge and see if there is another way inside."

Sheppard sighed, "It's at times like these we really need McKay. I don't like the idea of him being stuck in there with such a dangerous man. He'll probably be able to find a way out on his own eventually, but we have to try something."

Ronon nodded and stopped struggling. They split up and Sheppard went with Teyla as Ronon went the other way to skirt the entire perimeter of the shield and check for openings or weaknesses they could use to rescue their annoying, but brilliant team-mate.

Sheppard was a quarter of the way around the shield, uselessly poking it with the tip of his P90 every metre or so, when there was the unmistakable sound of muffled gunfire from the structure.

Sheppard's heart leapt up into his throat in fear of what might have just transpired. He prayed that it had been McKay firing the shots, but planned for the worst.

Teyla looked back at him with wide eyes, "Rodney…"

Sheppard shook his head, "We don't know that yet. Let's keep trying."

She nodded and they sped up in their futile attempt to break through the barrier.

* * *

A sense of numb cold permeated Rodney as his black world faded to a dull grey.

He soon wished for the darkness to consume him once more as he felt an unrelenting pain building up in his left side as he floated closer to regaining consciousness.

He could feel his heart pounding weakly in his chest and a light-headedness he usually only felt when he had forgotten to eat for too long. This time it scared him more than he had ever known.

Rodney remembered what had happened as his brain suddenly engaged. He had been shot! He could feel the dampness on his leg and side and he knew with more certainty than he had ever felt before that he was probably going to die. Judging by the continual agony assailing him which was still growing towards a fearful peak he dreaded, he also knew that it was not going to be a peaceful or pleasant way to go.

He could feel that he was lying on his side on the cold and hard ground. He slowly moved his arms across himself and clamped them down on his abdomen as hard as he dared. His tac vest got in the way and he knew that his very life was still rapidly draining out onto the floor despite his strongest efforts to keep it inside.

His bruised ribs were almost forgotten as the more intense sensation of the trauma from the bullet wounds superseded them.

He desperately moved his hands down to the gaping hole in his side and tried to press them against the injury more securely.

He cursed and drew a shuddering breath as the tac vest still blocked all his efforts to keep himself alive for just few more precious minutes.

He knew he needed to somehow unzip and get rid of the vest so that he could create an adequate seal when he clamped his hand over the horrendous wound.

He wondered how much pain a person could endure and knew that he was having more than his fair share at the moment. A fire was rapidly spreading out inside his belly from the location of the bleeding wound and it began to fan frighteningly up towards his heart. It made his breathing hitch and his pulse sped up to hammer against his ribs in panic. He tasted burning metal and acid in the back of his throat that made his gag feebly, which only resulted in redoubling the agony.

He knew he was seriously hurt and in big trouble. He wished Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon were there to help him. Although right now he knew the only person who would really be able to do anything for him was Carson. Something was very wrong inside him, as the bullet had obviously done a lot of damage as it had torn into him. The small piece of metal had deeply lodged itself somewhere in his abdomen. He could feel himself weakening as he bled out inside and onto the floor.

After what felt like an eternity of misery and agony he decided to finally open his eyes to find out what his merciless attacker was up to.

Rodney squinted blearily across the room. He had fallen facing Dr Newall and saw the man standing in front of a pillar with a hand resting on top. Rodney frowned as he noticed Newall's hand was glowing and bathed his pale face in an eerie hue.

Rodney realised that Newall had left him where he had fallen on the floor and was ignoring him; thinking he was dead. Like an enemy soldier on a battlefield. Rodney suddenly felt terribly cold and lonely in his pain. His chest tightened in sadness as he longed for the company of his friends and not the mad person who had caused his anguish.

Tears of pain stung the corners of Rodney's eyes as he watched and he blinked them away. He started to shudder in the cold which gripped his heart and threatened to drag him away from awareness once more. He gasped as brand new waves of agony rolled through him.

Rodney drew a shaking hand up to his face and marvelled in dismay at how his bright red blood had soaked through the white bandage which was still wrapped around it. He then moved it down and pressed it over his other hand still firmly gripping his left side.

Newall heard the pained sounds escaping from McKay's lips and turned his dark circled and crazed eyes to look down at the vulnerable man. Rodney saw the unmerciful and unfeeling glare in the man's face and was even more afraid than he had been a few minutes ago.

Newall drew the gun up and pointed it at Rodney's chest. McKay closed his eyes and turned away. There would be no respite this time. Newall was going to kill him and he knew he was far too weak to survive another hit.

Rodney now realised in hindsight that waking up the previous morning had been a bad call. The day had only gone from bad to worse at every turn. Now, to top it all, he was going to die.

The shot did not come though and Rodney risked facing his attacker again. He still had to know, "Why?" He asked through gritted teeth.

Newall was still aiming his gun squarely at Rodney's chest and he pondered the question for a few seconds. Blinking slowly he spoke in a croaking whisper, "You don't know when to quit do you? If you had accepted the fact that you were beaten earlier, then I wouldn't have to kill you now."

Rodney's blood starved brain and agony wracked body made it difficult for him to think so he opted for the easy way out; "What the hell are you talking about?"

Newall's next words were spoken in a harsh whisper, which made Rodney frown, "My only intention was to test the device. When I realised the power I had I knew there was one thing I needed to do, so I set about to kill Perkins. But you," he waved the gun threateningly which made Rodney flinch, "You always have a solution for everything don't you!"

Newall's breath came in harsh gasps as he glared at the defenceless scientist lying on the floor in front of him.

Rodney's frown deepened and then realisation dawned on him. He muttered, "There's water in my rucksack, but I left it in the corridor. Looks like you'll die too if you don't get it."

"Quiet!" Newall tried to shout and his face was open in an expression made by a person yelling in rage, but it fell flat as he could still barely whisper. He was infuriated at the brave selflessness Rodney showed, even to the man who had hurt him so badly.

The weak rush of blood past Rodney's ears made it difficult to hear anything Newall was saying and his vision was clouding over again so he could barely lip-read.

Newall leered down at Rodney as he saw the man finally beginning to lose his battle with consciousness as more blood flowed out between the fingers pressed over his side. The wound on his leg bled freely with nothing to cease the flow.

McKay gazed blearily at the barrel of the gun still pointing at him, "Perkins tried to kill me, something about Dr Li and that off world mission that went wrong."

Newall frowned as his strength started to flag and he stumbled away from the pillar towards Rodney. His face was filled with dangerous madness as he crouched down next to the stricken scientist and prodded him with the end of the gun. "Dr Li was supposed to be mine. I wished only for Perkins to die…"

Rodney cried out as Newall's actions made him shift slightly. He furrowed his brow and screwed his eyes tightly closed as new pains assaulted him from his leg and side. The agony in his side continued to radiate up into his chest to an almost unbearable level.

He knew of nothing for a few seconds as he held his breath and stiffened up; anything to try and stop the pain.

He sighed after a minute when his brain slowly started working again and tried to make sense of what Newall was telling him.

Suddenly it dawned on him. He thought that Newall would be surprised that he was able to figure it out, but then everyone always made the same assumption about Rodney. But he knew that he was not heartless or made of stone, although most people probably saw him that way. Nor was he oblivious to the feelings of others although he had long ago learnt to place a seal over his heart to try and block it out.

"So this is just about payback for your rejection?" His voice took on a sarcastic tone before he could stop it, "Oh poor you! I feel really sorry! But you don't have to go around killing people because of a love triangle and petty jealousy." He finished incredulously.

He quickly silenced himself as Newall glared at him and prodded him with the gun again. His survival instinct had taken over and he had always been a firm believer in avoiding pain where at all possible and was not doing a very good job by infuriating the man holding his life in the balance.

Rodney thought Newall had probably been off the deep end before he was torn apart by jealousy anyway. He made a mental note to make sure the SGC tightened up the psych screening process. He then remembered that he would never be able to deliver it now and frowned as he resigned himself to his fate.

Newall just blinked at him tiredly as Rodney felt all awareness slipping away from him. He knew he was in a bad way and once again wished that his last ever conversation had not been with the madman who had killed him for such a pointless reason.

Rodney closed his eyes and felt a slight vibration on the floor as a figure slumped down on the ground next to him. He fought valiantly against the bleak tide of darkness washing over his tired mind, but it was unstoppable and he soon lost his tenuous grip on consciousness once more.

* * *

TBC

A/N – another interesting aside - this chapter heading came from a game (Call of Duty 4), as did 'Tricks and Traps' (Doom 2) and 'The End of the Road' (The Darkness).


	18. Running Out of Time

**Chapter 18 – Running Out of Time**

Sheppard reached up and tapped his radio as he had already done several times even before they had heard the shots ring out, "Sheppard to McKay… Rodney come in."

He sighed and shared a worried look with Teyla. The shield must be blocking their communications.

They both met up with Ronon a couple of minutes later, between them they had walked around the whole perimeter of the Ancient lab. They stood close to the only door to the facility once more.

"Anything?" Sheppard asked Ronon

"No. The whole thing's covered. Did you hear the shots?"

Sheppard and Teyla both nodded grimly.

Sheppard poked the shield again with his P90 and still it did not yield at all. He frowned, "I could run back to the Jumper and see if there's any way to link up and break through."

Teyla looked at him, "That would seem to be the only possible solution at the moment."

Ronon nodded, "Other than hanging around out here doing nothing."

As he spoke the shield shimmered. Sheppard swung his P90 up again and tested it. It passed unhindered right through the air where the shield had been.

"Maybe I won't have to after all." He said as he walked towards the door without coming across the shield.

"Sheppard to McKay?" There was a reply this time, but it was only static.

He turned to Teyla and Ronon, "Ronon stay out here. If the shield goes back up or you don't hear from us; run back to the Jumper and wait for Atlantis to check in. Tell them to get Zelenka to contact the Daedalus."

He nodded and then cast his wary eyes back on the forest around them.

Sheppard went into the facility first and waved his hand over the panel next to the door they had seen their missing scientist dragged through and shut behind a few minutes earlier. To his surprise it opened and he went into the curved corridor, followed closely by Teyla.

Sheppard frowned down at the rucksack lying abandoned on the floor in front of them. He reached down and shouldered it and then crept stealthily along the passageway towards the door to the central chamber.

He wished he had a life signs detector, anything to give them a heads up on what they were about to come up against, but Rodney had lost one and taken the other from the rucksack.

He raised his P90 as he stood next to the doorway and felt Teyla doing the same behind him. Then he quickly swung himself around the doorframe and tracked his eyes and gun around the entire room.

Teyla followed him and stood on his left side doing the same. Her gaze soon rested on the two figures lying unmoving on the floor close to the pillar.

"Rodney!" She gasped with her eyes wide.

Sheppard was also looking at the two unconscious scientists and kept his gun trained on Newall as he rushed over with Teyla.

He carefully recovered both sidearms, which he found on the floor and tucked them into the rucksack as he placed it down.

There was so much blood on the floor and on both of the men, it was unclear exactly who was injured and where. Sheppard knew that Rodney had been fine before he went into the lab and therefore checked him over first. With Teyla's help they quickly found the graze on Rodney's leg and noticed how his tac vest was shiny with blood as it continued to leak out of him from an unknown wound.

Teyla helped him to do that which Rodney had been unable and they carefully removed his tac vest trying not to move him. Sheppard could feel slight tremors running through the man and a small trickle of blood dribbled from his mouth as they worked.

Sheppard did not like how pale Rodney's face was and how the bruising around his eyes was so stark against his skin.

Teyla gasped in shock and Sheppard baulked when they finally found the source of all the blood and Rodney's unconsciousness. Sheppard carefully peeled back the injured man's shirt and placed a bandage over the wound high up on Rodney's left side, eliciting a slight moan from him, but no more.

Teyla quickly moved down and securely wrapped another bandage around Rodney's upper leg.

She pinched her features together in worry as she worked, "He has lost a lot of blood. We need to get him back to Atlantis."

"I know," Sheppard said as he pressed down firmly on the bandage. Rodney furrowed his brow and whimpered for a moment, but then his face went slack and he was now completely unresponsive.

Sheppard reached up and tapped his radio, "Sheppard to Ronon. We need you in here now."

Sheppard did not like the look of Rodney's injuries; the man was in a bad way. The leg wound was messy, but not too serious, but the hole in his friend's side was too close to his chest and Sheppard dreaded to think what kind of damage there was inside the scientist.

Teyla kept her hand on Rodney's leg and then turned to face Newall.

The other scientist had his eyes open and was blankly staring up at her.

"Colonel Sheppard?" Teyla said in fright at the vacant gaze she was receiving. As she watched, some focus returned to Newall's face and he blinked slowly at her.

Sheppard was carefully wrapping the bandage around Rodney's torso and had just grabbed another out of the rucksack. He put it over the other one on Rodney's abdomen, which was already pink in the centre and turned to look at Newall.

Newall's mouth opened in a grin as he saw Teyla and Sheppard desperately trying to save Rodney's life. "He's already dead," Newall whispered harshly, "You should just leave him and get back to Atlantis."

Sheppard frowned, "Not if I can help it." In defiance, he pushed down even more firmly on Rodney's side.

Teyla narrowed her eyes, "Why should we get back to Atlantis?"

Newall laughed silently and started to cough, "Before it's too late."

Sheppard shared a worried glance with Teyla and then turned back to Newall, "What's wrong with you?"

Newall just leered up at him and licked his cracked lips with a dry tongue.

Sheppard turned back to Teyla, "There's some water in the bag. Let him take a few small sips, but not too much."

Teyla did as Sheppard asked in disgust that they should try to save the life of one who had so seriously injured Rodney.

Ronon walked in as Newall passed out again. He looked around and assessed the situation in the way only he knew how and quickly strode over to Newall. He pulled out his blaster and aimed it at the unconscious scientist's head.

"Ronon stop!" Sheppard shouted as he placed his free hand on Rodney's chest to make sure he was still breathing.

Ronon glared in fury at Newall and growled as he increased pressure on the trigger.

Teyla stood up from her position beside Newall, she still had the water bottle in her hand, "Ronon, please! We know he hurt Rodney, but he also needs our help now too!

Ronon was staring intensely at Newall but softened his expression slightly as he turned to Teyla, "He doesn't deserve to live after what he's put us through and I'm sure McKay would agree, if he survives."

Sheppard could feel Rodney's chest still rising and falling shallowly and he sighed, "I don't think that's true. I need both of you to stay here while I run back and get the Jumper. I know there's not much of a clearing around this lab, but this is an emergency."

Teyla nodded slowly and moved over to take Sheppard's place.

Sheppard stood up and looked down at his hands which were soaked in Rodney's blood. He grimaced and turned them over. He then lifted his head to Ronon, "Don't shoot Newall while I'm gone and keep McKay alive. That's an order."

Ronon grunted and nodded. He reholstered his blaster and he sat down next to Teyla to help Rodney.

* * *

Sheppard ran as fast as he could through the forest. He tried to keep to the same path they had taken before, which was fairly obvious due to the chopped and smashed branches Ronon had carved up to make a route.

He sometimes missed his footing and stumbled, but kept upright and forced himself ever onwards. Rodney's very life was draining away every moment he wasted and he did not know how much more time his friend had, if any at all.

Sheppard cursed as he went off course and was rewarded by being snagged in some branches. He ignored the scratches they gave him on his arms and face as he brutally tore himself free and continued in his run.

He had let Rodney down and he knew it. The whole purpose of having three military trained people on the team was to protect their scientist and they had let him be captured and shot. Guilt flowed through Sheppard's veins. Rodney had been hurt on Sheppard's watch when he was supposed to be under his protection.

He tried to break out of the thoughts by reasoning that there was nothing they could have done to prevent it, but there must have been something. Sheppard was angry with himself, which only made him run even faster. He would never forgive himself if Rodney were to die.

He quickly freed his foot from a vine on the ground which had nearly made him fall headlong into the undergrowth and ploughed forwards again.

His breath came in rapid gasps and he could feel sweat running down his face in the humid heat of the forest, but he ignored his own tiredness and concentrated on keeping himself moving.

When he finally reached the Jumper he was nearly exhausted. He ran inside and booted up the systems while muttering a mantra between rapid breaths, "Please don't die Rodney, hold on for just a little while longer and we'll get you back to Atlantis."

He flew the craft up above the canopy and back to the Ancient lab so low he was almost skimming the treetops. He could see the clearing where the lab was and his mind was suddenly filled with the memory of his friend lying in a pool of his blood on the floor. He shook his head to try and clear the images, the manoeuvre was going to be very difficult and made even harder if his thoughts were clouded by emotion.

He steeled himself as he slowly guided the small craft between the trees and cursed as he snapped some of the smaller branches. The wind gusted strongly and nearly blew the slowly moving ship into one of the trees.

He wrestled with the controls for a second and was soon under the canopy above the lab. It looked so much smaller from the Jumper then it had up close. He flew the ship at a snail's pace under the overhanging branches and brought it down just outside the door in a space with barely a few metres of clearance on each side.

Sheppard had no time to marvel and congratulate himself at his flying skills. They were on the clock and the longer he waited the less chance of survival Rodney had left.

He leapt up out of his seat and grabbed the medical kit from the rear compartment before running back into the lab.

* * *

When Sheppard ran into the room he thought that Rodney looked even paler than he had done before he left. Teyla was still keeping up the pressure on his side. He could also see that the injured man was shivering despite being unconscious.

Ronon was watching Newall dangerously and kept his twitching hand very close to the blaster in case he was ever given a tiny excuse to end the other man's life.

Sheppard gave the medical kit to Teyla and picked up the rucksack he had left with them. He indicated for Ronon to assist and walked over to the pillar in the middle of the room.

He crouched down and looked inside the podium at the stolen ZPM. He could hear it humming softly as it glowed an almost blinding bright yellow. He wished Rodney were awake, he would know whether it was safe to be removed. McKay was out cold though and there was no way Sheppard wanted to risk waking him up and hurting him anymore.

Rodney did not have enough time left for them to debate about it though so Sheppard said to Ronon, "We need it back. Hold the bag open while I grab it."

Ronon crouched down next to him and peered at the ZPM. "Are you sure? It might kill you. McKay would know what to do, we could try waking him up."

Sheppard shook his head, "Rodney's in no condition for any more stress. I'm not even sure we could wake him if we tried."

Teyla was looking down at Rodney's pale face and frowning that her other team members were even considering trying to get him up.

Sheppard reached forwards and grabbed the ZPM. He had to shift it up slightly, but it came free easily. He sighed in relief as he slipped it into the rucksack.

"Hey, what's that?" Ronon said pointing into the space vacated by the ZPM.

Sheppard put his hand inside and quickly picked out a small circular device which had been slotted into the side of the pillar. He got his hand out just in time, as the pillar rapidly lowered into the floor and joined seamlessly with the ground.

He turned over the contraption in his hand and shrugged. He then put it in his pocket and turned back to Ronon.

"Can you lift McKay and carry him back to the Jumper?"

Ronon raised his eyebrows as though Sheppard had asked a stupid question. John still looked at him questioningly so Ronon nodded, "Yes."

Sheppard looked grimly around the room and at the blood on the floor, which was smeared in some places. Newall was beginning to stir again and he went over to him.

Sheppard gave him some more water and said, "Teyla, grab the bag. I'll help Newall and Ronon follow us with Rodney."

Sheppard hefted Newall up and draped the man's arm over his shoulders. Staggering slightly under the weight, Sheppard then slowly shuffled towards the door. Newall was barely helping him and seemed to be deliberately dragging his feet more than necessary.

Ronon crouched down next to Rodney while Teyla checked the bandages around his leg and side were secure. She nodded and Ronon very gently gathered McKay up into his arms.

If Ronon thought Rodney was heavy, he made no sound or sign as he left the lab behind and followed Sheppard.

Teyla took one last look around the lab and felt a sudden wave of sadness and fear passing over her when she saw so much of Rodney's blood on the ground. She shouldered the rucksack, retrieved the medical kit and left the terrible room behind.

* * *

TBC


	19. Last, Best Hope

**Chapter 19 – Last, Best Hope**

Ronon lay Rodney down on the floor in the rear compartment of the Jumper. Sheppard placed Newall in the co-pilot's chair and grabbed some rope to secure him to the seat.

He quickly activated the systems as he settled in the pilot's chair.

Rodney's very survival hung in the balance and his last hope was for all speed back to Atlantis. The sooner they got back, the better chance Dr Beckett would have to save his life.

Teyla put a hand on Rodney's forehead as Ronon tucked blankets around him. She frowned, "He has a temperature. Yet he is shivering as though cold."

Ronon was also looking grimly down at Rodney, "Blood loss and fever. He's tough though. He'll be alright."

Teyla shared a glance with Ronon who suddenly fixed a defiant glare in his eyes. They were both going to do everything they could to keep Rodney alive.

Sheppard flew the Jumper up more clumsily than he had landed it and broke several large branches as he flew it through the canopy and vertically back to the space gate. He flicked his eyes over to Newall next to him every few seconds to make sure he was still unconscious.

As the craft flew out of the upper atmosphere and into space he called out to the others, "We're approaching the space gate. I'm dialling it up."

He hammered the symbols for Atlantis on the DHD, but nothing happened when he pressed the engage button. He had to swerve the craft away from the gate they had been fast approaching when the wormhole did not form.

"What the hell?!" He cried as he looped the Jumper around for another pass.

He pressed the symbols again more slowly, but still the gate did not activate. He spun around in his seat, "Teyla, can you come in here?"

She had just checked the bandages on McKay's abdomen and let Ronon take over as she approached the cockpit.

"It's not activating," Sheppard said trying not to let his panic break through in his voice, "Can you dial the address for Atlantis just to double check?"

She frowned and did as he asked. The gate still remained inactive and she covered her mouth with her hand as she looked across at Sheppard where the fear was now showing on both of their faces without any efforts by either party to hide it.

The Jumper floated in space next to the inert gate where time was fast running out for two of its occupants.

* * *

Teams were putting out small fires which were raging around the Control Room on Atlantis and the air was thick with smoke which made the torchlight visible as the beams shone around the room.

Zelenka stood in the remains of the room with Dr Weir. She was looking around at the wreckage and frowning. She turned to Zelenka who was trying to hurry up the team moving debris out of the way from the control panels.

"The drone was targeted very precisely to hit the Control Room. Is the gate still operational?" She asked.

Zelenka almost pushed his colleagues out of the way to get to the DHD. He crouched down and moved aside a piece of twisted metal covering the access panel. He shone his torch inside and sighed.

The interior of the device was scorched beyond recognition. He put his hand inside and pulled out the control crystal. It was broken and black. He held it up in front of his face and shone the light through it.

"It is completely broken. We cannot dial out and no one will be able to get back either."

Weir widened her eyes, "We have a team out there Radek. What if they're in trouble?"

Zelenka sighed and stood up, "I could fix it if we had a Puddle Jumper to work with and salvage components. As it is I am not even sure we have all the spare parts needed on the base."

"Do your best to cobble something together. The Daedalus will take hours to reach them and if anyone has been injured…"

"I know. I am going to the lab to get the parts I need."

He got up and climbed over the shards of metal, glass and smashed computers on the floor.

* * *

Teyla held one of Rodney's hands in her own. They had rebandaged them after carefully removing the blood soaked cloth which had been stuck to his skin. She could feel him shaking and rested the back of her hand on his forehead.

She exchanged a concerned look with Sheppard and Ronon over the top of the injured man as they sat on the floor opposite her.

Ronon had put an oxygen mask over Rodney's face but his breathing was shallow and laboured. More blood kept dribbling from his mouth.

Sheppard lifted the mask and wiped Rodney's face clean again. He then checked the bandages under the blanket. They were soaked through and Rodney's skin was terribly pale underneath the livid purple and black bruises marring his chest and abdomen.

Sheppard was surprised Rodney had gone on as long as he had done with such injuries from the infernal door and Perkins' attack.

They had already been waiting for a couple of hours. Sheppard got up every five minutes and tested the gate again. There was no luck so far. He wanted to know what had happened on Atlantis, but Newall was slumped back in his chair and in no condition to answer any questions. Sheppard made sure he was still alive every time he went back into the cockpit and gave him another sip of water if he was able.

He wished that Rodney was awake and could help them figure out what was going on. Sheppard missed the sarcastic comments which he knew the scientist would have flung his way if he could have asked the man whether the Jumper DHD was working properly.

Sheppard knew that of course the DHD was fine, but would have liked his friend to test it anyway. With a ZPM at their disposal he could have goaded Rodney about increasing the engine output to make them fly all the way back to Atlantis.

Maybe Rodney could have rigged up the ZPM to the engines somehow which would have allowed them to fly to another planet in the system. They could find out whether there were any more gates in the system in case the one in orbit above P3X-778 had gone wrong. With only one engine working he did not dare to try without Rodney's blessing. There was a high risk that the engine could conk out completely and leave them drifting without any power and in a worse situation than they currently were.

Sheppard could almost imagine the poison spreading throughout Rodney's system as he watched the man's body trembling from infection. He tried not to think about how long it would be before they could be rescued, if there was any hope at all.

The gate not working meant that something had happened on Atlantis. He prayed they had been able to contact the Daedalus in time to send them.

The best case was therefore that help was on the way. The worst outcome would be that the help would come far too late to save Rodney.

Even if the Daedalus had been contacted as soon as Sheppard had left Atlantis with his team he figured it would take them hours to get there. He lay a hand on Rodney's chest and felt the shallow shuddering breaths under his fingers. He was reassured by the motion but fearful that it could stop at any moment.

He was unsure whether the injured man would be able to survive for hours if that was how long it took for them to be rescued. He was not even sure if Rodney had enough strength left to survive the next minute.

Sheppard gently patted Rodney's chest and leaned over close to his friend's ear, "Hold on."

Teyla smiled sadly at him when he looked up feeling slightly embarrassed.

She held the bandaged hand more tightly and gave it a squeeze; "Rescue is on the way soon. Stay with us Rodney."

* * *

Floating on the edge of unconsciousness, Rodney felt like he was a block of ice. He grimly wondered how he had become trapped in a freezer.

Fleeting memories passed through his mind; heat and falling leaves, followed by pain, darkness and cold.

He could hear voices telling him, _"Hold on!"_

_Hold on to what?_ He thought tiredly. His entire being was numb with cold and he could not gather any strength to make himself rise from the glacial depths to become fully aware. Based on the little that he was able to feel with his dim awareness, he had no such desire anyway.

The cold he felt combined with the recent disjointed thoughts playing out in his mind and made him think of harsh winters and leaves falling like tears from the sky. The memory of watching the brightly coloured leaves as they slowly drifted down was always painfully beautiful and sad to him. Trees always seemed dead in the winter.

There they go again, the voices at the periphery of his awareness, _"Rescue is on the way soon! Stay with us Rodney!"_

_Stay where?_ More old memories passed through his wintry mind; the feeling of snow beneath his feet and the crunch of icy leaves as he trod them into the ground.

He could feel a weight settled on his chest, which made it hard to breathe. He had no wish to die, but it was difficult to keep on drawing breath when the air was so cold. He felt a crushing chill clutching at his heart as it weakly fluttered in his ribcage and he fought against it wearily for as long as he could.

Every moment felt like forever in the cold void between awareness and the dark.

Rodney felt so hollow and drained. Just before he allowed himself to be claimed by the cold he heard the voices again, _"The Daedalus is here! Told you you'd be alright McKay!"_

_The Daedalus? _Rodney's last thought was of flying in the sky like a bird with large wax glued feathery wings unfurled to make him soar. He was powerless to resist the encroaching darkness on his mind and allowed himself to be carried away once more.

* * *

TBC


	20. The Last Open Door

Thank you so much to everyone for the wonderful reviews! Go **trekie** for figuring out that the title 'Last, Best Hope' was indeed cribbed from Babylon 5… (which I also love by the way)

**Chapter 20 – The Last Open Door**

Teyla nodded sadly at Sheppard as she spoke to Rodney. John had nothing to feel shame about. She knew how close he and McKay were and she did not want to think about what an effect the death of Rodney could have on the Colonel.

She vowed to keep the man alive no matter what it took. She was leaning in more closely and was about to speak into Rodney's ear again when the sensors in the cockpit beeped loudly.

Sheppard lifted his hand off Rodney's chest and walked over and sat in the pilot's chair. His face broke into a relieved grin and he turned slightly in his seat to call out to the people in the rear compartment, "The Daedalus is here!"

Ronon smiled as he put his hand on Rodney's chest and leaned over the unconscious scientist's face and spoke gruffly, "Told you you'd be alright McKay."

Ronon frowned as he kept his hand over Rodney's heart, "Uh Sheppard? He's not breathing."

"Oh crap!" Sheppard muttered as he hastily tapped the comm, "Colonel Sheppard to Daedalus."

"_This is Colonel Caldwell."_

"We have a medical emergency. Please lock on and beam all occupants other than myself directly to the Infirmary." He paused for a moment and then settled his eyes on Newall, "Oh and have a security detail meet them there."

"_Acknowledged."_

Sheppard silently thanked Caldwell for not asking him why or what had happened on the planet. He knew that he would have to recount the tale several times to Dr Weir and in his report and probably to half of Atlantis. He also knew in the back of his mind that he would not be able to stand explaining it even once if his friend were to die.

Sheppard quickly cut the ropes binding Newall to the chair next to him and then watched as everyone else on board evaporated in a mist of white stars.

He felt a deep sense of worry for Rodney. How long had he not been breathing? Was his heart still beating? Did he have any time left or was it now too late for the Daedalus medics to do anything for him?

Sheppard tried to shake the thoughts as he felt a lump forming in the back of his throat. He steeled himself, swallowed thickly and set his face in as stoic an expression as he could manage. He then guided the Jumper into the open hanger bay and hastily parked it in an empty space next to the F302s.

He grabbed the rucksack holding the ZPM and dashed out of the rear hatch towards the infirmary. He wished the precious and powerful device could do something to help Rodney.

He continued to think as he ran between the startled crew members of the Daedalus. He had been through so much with McKay, sure they had butted heads on more than one occasion, but always came out on top with their friendship intact.

McKay had saved Sheppard's life and the lives of everyone on Atlantis too many times to count. They had survived Wraith attacks and fought so many battles with the humans of the Pegasus Galaxy. He hated the idea that Rodney may die from a human attack carried out by a man from Earth. They were all supposed to be on the same side.

* * *

Teyla kept hold of Rodney's hand even after they were fully materialised in the Daedalus' infirmary.

As the medical staff quickly approached and checked him over efficiently she still held onto the scientist's bandaged fingers.

She felt a firm hand drawing her away and turned her face from Rodney's pale features to look up at Ronon who had her upper arm held gently in his hand. "Come on. They've got him. There's nothing more we need to do."

She nodded slowly and allowed herself to be pulled away to the side of the infirmary.

One of the Doctors came over to them and asked, "What happened to Dr McKay and Dr Newall?"

Teyla pressed her lips together in a thin line while Ronon spoke, "McKay's been shot in the side and leg. Newall…" He spat the name with as much venom as he could muster, "Dunno. Don't really care."

Teyla frowned as Ronon turned away and she had to continue, "We are not sure what happened to Dr Newall, but he seemed dehydrated when we got to him."

The Doctor nodded and went over to both of his patients.

Newall was swiftly hooked up with IV lines, but Rodney's condition was a lot more serious. There were so many people around him it was difficult for Teyla and Ronon to see what was happening and neither of them could comprehend the medical commands being flung between the staff.

All that they knew was that there was a beeping heart monitor, which could only be good news.

Sheppard ran into the room and joined them a few seconds later. He just caught a glimpse of Rodney before he was wheeled away into the operating theatre. He was sure that if McKay was conscious the man would have greatly protested at the lack of Carson's presence with him.

Sheppard was just glad that his friend was finally getting the proper help he had so desperately needed for the last few hours.

A nurse rushed over to Sheppard and studied his face and arms, "Colonel? If you'd just like to take a seat over there on that bed; I'll be with you in a moment."

Sheppard blinked slowly at her, "What?" He was infuriated that there was anyone left in the infirmary who was not helping Rodney.

Ronon leaned over with a tight smile, "Didn't want to say anything."

Teyla joined him, "We thought you were too preoccupied with Rodney to have noticed and would not have liked any attention for yourself."

Sheppard looked down at his arms and cursed himself for always wearing a short-sleeved shirt on away missions. His arms were covered in nasty red scratches and the bandages still wrapped around his hands from the fateful morning were coated in Rodney's blood.

As he examined himself, the cuts began to throb and sting. He could now feel similar smarting sensations across his face.

The nurse came back and she studied Sheppard in concern, "Colonel, over here please."

Ronon raised his eyebrows at Sheppard, but the nurse saw, "You too please."

Ronon's face suddenly dropped into a puzzled expression and he looked at Teyla. She pointed down at his chest and Ronon followed her gaze to look at himself.

"Uh" he grunted noticing he had blood all over the front of his shirt from where he had carried Rodney to the Jumper, "It's not mine."

The nurse looked at him sadly and nodded. She then put a hand firmly on Sheppard's shoulder and guided him over to sit on the bed.

He still had the rucksack with the ZPM inside and hoped that its close proximity to his friend as he fought for his life would somehow make him stronger. A superstition and a tiny spark of a hope perhaps, but Sheppard figured that Rodney had only been kept alive by the unerring faith and hope of his friends while on the Jumper. Now his life was in the skilled hands of the medical team on the Daedalus and he still needed anything to give him the strength to live.

He passed the bag to Ronon as he reluctantly shuffled over and sat on the bed to be cleaned up and rebandaged by the waiting nurse.

* * *

Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon pulled up chairs in one corner of the infirmary out of the way as they waited for news on Rodney's condition. There had not been so much as a peep from the closed door behind which Rodney was still being operated on.

A nurse was adjusting Newall's IV lines and two marines stood close by keeping watch over the scientist.

The nurse frowned at them, not liking having weapons in the room which was a place of healing for all people equally, even criminals.

As she picked up Newall's right hand to make sure the IV line was alright she jumped and dropped it. She carefully lifted it once more and turned the palm over so that she could see the source of the slight shock she had just received.

She pinched her features together as the marines came over to find out what the source of her alarm was.

Sheppard watched warily with Teyla and Ronon from the other side of the room.

One of the marines leaned over and noticed the faint glow through the skin in the palm of Newall's hand. "What is it?"

The nurse frowned and looked up at him, "I'm not sure."

"Best wait until we get back to Atlantis. Their Doctor will be able to run that medical scanner over him."

She nodded and rested the scientist's hand back down gently on the covers.

Sheppard put his hand in his pocket and drew out the device he had retrieved from P3X-778. He looked at it more closely. There was some Ancient text on one side and a triangular indentation on the other.

He pushed himself out of the chair and made his way over to Newall.

One of the marines took his eyes off Newall to track Sheppard's progress towards them, "Colonel?"

"Stand down. I'm just going to test a theory."

Sheppard held the device in his right hand and turned Newall's right palm upwards. He moved the circular piece of metal closer to the glowing palm and frowned when he saw a bright white and growing light shining through the man's hand as the device got closer.

Sheppard suddenly pressed the circle of metal directly onto Newall's hand and there was a slight noise followed by a dull metallic clunk.

Sheppard kept hold of the circle until the sounds stopped and then turned it over to see what had just happened. He saw that there was another object inside the once empty triangular indentation. His eyes widened and he rushed over to a table in the infirmary and put the device down.

He then walked back to Newall where the nurse was once again checking him and looked down at the scientist's hand. There were no marks on the skin and Sheppard narrowed his eyes as a faint splutter came from the man lying on the bed.

He moved his gaze up to meet Newall's tired eyes. The man's mouth twitched open and he gave Sheppard a furious glare when he realised that the Colonel had just stolen the device in his hand. His face then softened and went slack as he fell asleep again.

* * *

It was early morning on Wednesday when the Daedalus left hyperspace and cautiously approached Atlantis. The Lantean sun glinted brightly off the ship as it glided through space.

Caldwell took no chances this time and instantly raised the shields in case the Puddle Jumpers were still on the attack.

As they got closer to Lantea he called Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon up to the bridge. They had understandably been reluctant to leave the infirmary, but Rodney was still in surgery and it would take time before he was out of the woods and released to intensive care.

Sheppard looked through the viewing window at the tiny blue and green orb in space in front of the Daedalus.

Caldwell leaned slightly in his seat and spoke, "Try hailing them again."

The helmsman shook his head, "Sorry Sir, still no reply."

Teyla turned around and asked Caldwell, "How long has it been since the last contact with Atlantis?"

Caldwell set his face grimly, "Many hours ago. Dr Weir asked us to fly to P3X-778 and we've not been able to raise them since."

She turned back to watch the rapidly growing planet as they got closer.

Sheppard looked to either side of himself at his team-mates and felt a pang of emptiness as he noticed that one of their number was still missing. He then spun around to look at Caldwell. "Can you beam us into the Gate Room?"

Caldwell studied Sheppard's face and narrowed his eyes as he considered the question.

"Yes, but I'm going to send a squad of marines with you."

Sheppard nodded in agreement.

* * *

Zelenka sat cursing and muttering in Czech in the science lab on Atlantis. He had already assigned a team to rig up a communicator to try and get in touch with the Daedalus, but everyone was tired and they all had varying degrees of hurt from the previous day's events.

As such, not much progress had been made even in hours of work. Zelenka silently wished that McKay was there to rally the troops. The sarcastic and rude remarks he snapped at everyone in the science department always made them produce their best work even on a ticking clock.

Zelenka poked at one of the crystals lined up on the desk and lifted it up to examine it with a scanner.

He had already made several such trips up and down from the Gate Room to get the required tools and components he needed when yet another crystal was fried in the damaged DHD.

He held the scanner closer to his face to study the readings and nodded in satisfaction. He clutched the crystal tightly in his hand as he wearily stood up and walked quickly back to the Control Room holding a torch to light the way in the dark corridor.

He frowned as he passed a window and saw a thin line of light breaking across the horizon. He rubbed his tired eyes with the back of his hand. He had not realised how long the Daedalus had been gone and that it was now so close to dawn without him even noticing.

He pounded up the stairs and into the Gate Room, which was almost completely clear of debris now. The hole in the wall which the drone had blasted several hours ago afforded a better view of the Lantean sky as the darkness lightened at the edges to a dull grey.

He was just about to walk up the Gate Room stairs when a loud swishing noise behind him made him jump and spin around to face the gate in alarm.

He widened his eyes in shock and held up his hands foolishly as Sheppard quickly pointed his gun to the ground and relaxed.

Ronon looked around the dim and scorched Gate Room and said to the room in general, "What the hell happened here?"

Zelenka shrugged and sighed, "Drone attack after you left."

Dr Weir trotted down the stairs and over to Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon with the contingent of marines. She looked apologetic, "We're glad to see you Colonel. The drone took out the communications and the gate."

Sheppard nodded and started towards the stairs.

Weir looked around at Sheppard's team and frowned, although she knew a civilian scientist would not normally be included in a preliminary strike force into an unknown and potentially hostile situation she asked anyway, "Where's Dr McKay?"

Sheppard looked at her sadly, "He's been seriously injured and is still with the medical team on the Daedalus. Can you ask if Dr Beckett is available to beam up and offer assistance?"

Weir nodded and looked concerned as she turned away and tapped her radio.

As Sheppard's team fanned out around the Gate Room; John walked over to Zelenka who was still standing at the side of the room looking very sad and lost at the news about Rodney.

He noticed that Sheppard had a rucksack on back and was slowly swinging it forwards as he approached. He put it on the floor in front of the bewildered scientist and unzipped the top.

He then looked up at Zelenka and saw a strange expression like a fight between sorrow and hope passing over his face when he saw the ZPM.

Sheppard stood up again and patted Zelenka's shoulder, "Come on Radek, let's see what we can do about the power. I'll fill you in on the way down."

* * *

TBC


	21. One Hell of a Day

Sorry if the medical stuff's wonky…remember: it's just for fun!

**Chapter 21 – One Hell of a Day**

The moment the Lantean sun rose above the horizon coincided with a satisfying hum throughout the city of Atlantis as the ZPM was put back in place and gave power back to all the systems.

The weary eyes of the city's occupants met the light of the dawn as they continued to work at getting everything back in order.

The air in the city was thick with unspoken tension as they all knew by now that one of their number had their life held in the balance which could still go one way or the other.

Sheppard was very glad the transporters were working as he stepped out into the Gate Room.

Now that the lights were on and the early morning sunlight was streaming through the window and the hole in the wall he could truly see the devastation the drone had wrought in the Control Room. Blackened scorch marks ran along the floor and broken computers had been swept out of the way in haste to clear a path up the stairs in the Gate Room.

He carefully walked up and met Ronon and Teyla who had been talking with Dr Weir.

Teyla turned at the approaching footsteps, "Colonel, we have just had an update from the Daedalus."

Dr Weir pursed her lips together and then spoke, "Carson was able to beam up a while ago. It took so long for you to get down to the ZPM room he has been helping Colonel Caldwell's staff."

Sheppard silently drew in a large breath and held it while she continued.

"He said Rodney's condition is still very serious but the surgery is going well and should be finished soon."

Sheppard let out the breath in a heavy sigh, "That's good."

Dr Weir smiled, "Yes. Carson also said that they are going to keep him in the Daedalus infirmary for a while until it is safe for him to be beamed down to Atlantis. In the meantime, I would like Teyla and Ronon to assist the science teams as they put our city back together and Colonel, I believe there are some free parking spaces in the hanger above us."

Sheppard grinned and for the first time since waking up to a nasty shock the morning before he actually felt genuine relief passing over him. He knew that Rodney would be fine with Dr Beckett and half the medical team on the Daedalus looking after him. He wondered how much Ancient equipment the Doctor had insisted on being beamed up with him to help and shook his head as images of the top of Beckett's head poking out from under a mountain of crates assailed him.

Weir, Ronon and Teyla returned his smile; although Teyla was still looking worried and they all had lines of tiredness etched into their faces.

They were content just to stand there for a few seconds until a gust of sea air blew in through the hole in the wall and disturbed some dust, which had been scattered across the remains of the control panels.

Sheppard nodded to his team and walked away to the Jumper Bay. He tapped his radio, "Sheppard to Major Lorne… We've got a little job to do."

Ronon turned to Teyla, "Come on, let's see where Dr Zelenka wants us."

* * *

Dr Beckett radioed Atlantis as soon as Rodney was released to intensive care. He sounded worn out but relieved.

Sheppard, Teyla, Ronon and Weir beamed straight up to the Daedalus, Sheppard having only just finished his mission and looking like he was about to keel over from exhaustion. He pushed himself to stay awake until he knew about his friend's condition.

Carson walked over to them as they entered the infirmary and guided them to a corner in the cramped room. Dr Newall was no longer on board as he had been stabilised and was strong enough to be beamed down to Atlantis for observation.

Beckett looked around at them sadly, "Aye…"

Sheppard suddenly felt more worried than he had done since he first saw Rodney lying on the floor in the lab. What had made even Carson speechless? "How is…" he began.

The Doctor snapped his head up and looked around at the people gathered in front of him as they watched him expectantly. "Rodney's condition is still very critical. Dr Griggs and I have done all we can for now, but there was a lot of damage. The bruising we already knew about and the graze to his leg was superficial, but the bullet in his side…" he shook his head slowly and sighed. "If he hadn't been wearing the tac vest…"

Teyla furrowed her brow and narrowed her eyes as Beckett looked away from them, "It broke several of his ribs and perforated his stomach. I'm not going to make any false promises; it's up to Rodney now. He'll need you, _all_ of you if he's to pull through."

Sheppard winced as Carson spoke and hoped that Rodney had not at any time been conscious after he was shot. Sheppard had heard that a shot in the stomach was the most painful way to die. Based on McKay's previous complaints about splinters and his low pain threshold, Sheppard now felt even more awful about letting his guard down and allowing Rodney to be injured on P3X-778.

Ronon grimaced as he spoke, "Can we see him?"

Carson nodded, "Aye, but not for too long. He's still very weak. Quite frankly I'm surprised he stayed alive for as long as he did with such injuries."

Ronon frowned, "McKay's all talk with his constant complaining, but deep down, when he actually _is_ hurt, he's as tough as the rest of us."

Sheppard felt a little bit better at Ronon's unwavering faith in McKay's strength and recovery. He followed the others as they gathered around the scientist's bed.

Rodney's face was pale and the dark circles were now even more accentuated around his eyes. A steady puff and sigh of a ventilator kept him breathing and his leg and torso were swathed in bandages. IV lines pierced his skin and a heart monitor beeped softly in the background.

Carson checked the readout and turned to look down at Rodney with the others, "I'm going to keep him on the ventilator and in a medical coma for a few days until he's stronger. We should be able to send him back to Atlantis by then. I'm sure he'd prefer to be back in the city even if he is only vaguely aware of it."

They stood there for a few minutes, each of them trying to channel as much of their own strength towards their injured friend as possible. At length Carson turned to them, "I need you to leave now. I'll call you if there's any news."

Dr Weir, Teyla and Ronon reluctantly left, but Sheppard stayed standing there for a while longer.

Carson looked into the Colonel's face and saw the sadness and guilt, "John, I've already spoken to Colonel Caldwell. He's agreed that you can stay on the Daedalus until Rodney can be sent back to Atlantis."

Sheppard wished he could stay next to Rodney but knew that his duty was to the city far below. If he did not help it would only make him feel worse. He nodded slowly and narrowed his eyes, "I can't stay here. There's still work to be done on Atlantis."

Carson frowned, "Dr Newall?"

Sheppard nodded, "_Dr Newall_…"

* * *

Rodney did not know where he was or even who he was. In fact the only thing he did know was that he was completely numb, but blissfully warm and snug.

He could hear a steady high pitched bleep and an intermittent mumbling.

There was a friendly quality to the sounds and he felt a sense of calm flowing through him. As he became slightly more aware he could hear that the mumbling was in fact speech. At first he did not understand and then he caught fragments of words. Something about '_Rescuing Puddle Jumpers,'_ '_Beaming'_ and sarcastic disappointment at not having to complete '_EVAs_.'

This confused him slightly but the speech seemed to be in good humour so he just relaxed further. He allowed the words to wash over him until they faded out to a quiet drone and then disappeared altogether as he drifted off again.

* * *

Sheppard stalked down the corridor towards the Atlantis brig. Dr Newall had not needed very long in the infirmary and had been confined as soon as Carson gave him the all clear.

Colonel Caldwell had been very against the idea of letting Newall back on Atlantis as he would need to be taken back to Earth to face his punishment.

No civil court could ever be used to do the man's trial so it would have to be held at the SGC. He had a string of charges listed against his name including many counts of assault, although indirectly, using the Lantean systems and one count of direct and brutal attempted murder.

Dr Perkins was already safely confined aboard the Daedalus and had a charge of assault against his name for when he had attacked Rodney.

Sheppard marched into the brig and indicated for the guards to lower the forcefield.

They did as he asked and he walked right up to Newall who was sitting on a small bench in the middle of the room.

He blinked up at Sheppard and asked, "How is Dr Li?"

The Colonel was surprised at the strange question and narrowed his eyes, "She's still very ill but Dr Beckett says she should be fine. Why?"

"That's good…good…" Newall gazed down at the palm of his right hand and rubbed it gently with the fingers of his left.

Sheppard frowned, "I asked _why_?"

Newall sighed, "The device. It was so powerful. I could feel the link to many bases in that system. I don't know what it was. I just felt the compulsion to use it as much as possible."

"_Many_ bases?"

"Yes. Like some kind of control mechanism. Probably so the Ancient's could monitor and control lots of places at once even with just one person."

"And Atlantis?"

"No, not that far, but I could easily link up to all the systems here."

Sheppard's frown deepened as Newall continued stare at his right palm and rub more vigorously into it; he almost seemed to be trying the wipe away the skin to get underneath.

"Why McKay?"

Newall stopped rubbing and looked up into Sheppard furious glare. "Oh! I never wanted to hurt him!"

"Well you _did_ and you nearly killed him!"

Sheppard suddenly grabbed the collar of Newall's shirt and lifted him off the bench roughly. John spun him around and pinned him forcefully against the side of the bars in the brig.

The marines on guard shared a concerned look and hinted at moving to stop their superior before he lost control, but they just stayed were they were and just watched warily.

Sheppard narrowed his eyes as Newall breathed quickly, "What I want to know is _why_?!"

Newall frowned, "He just got in the way, that's all."

"Not good enough!" Sheppard shouted as he pressed a forearm against Newall's throat and started to choke him. He wanted to make the man pay for the trauma he had inflicted on everyone and for what he had done to McKay.

"John! No!" A female voice called across the room.

Sheppard suddenly felt strong hands pulling him away from Newall. The man collapsed on the floor and held his throat as he coughed weakly.

Sheppard turned around and caught sight of Teyla and Ronon who were both looking flustered and shocked.

They continued to drag him away until the marines were able to raise the forcefield again.

When they were out of the brig and walking along the corridor, Ronon grabbed Sheppard's arm and made him stop.

Teyla said, "John, I know you are very angry and upset; because we all are. Dr Newall is only on Atlantis so that Dr Weir may question him before he is sent back to Earth. We will find out what happened and why eventually and I am sure Rodney will also be able to help us when he wakes up."

Ronon patted Sheppard on the back, "I think Newall deserved it. Although I also know that Dr Weir would probably chuck me off Atlantis faster than a blaster shot if I ever took action on half of my 'opinions.'"

Sheppard raised an eyebrow at the Satedan who was grinning back at him.

The rage dissipated to a dull feeling in the back of Sheppard's mind and he hoped no one reported what he had just done. He had been so angry at Newall's cavalier disregard of his actions and failing to provide any reasoning behind them.

Ronon said, "Let's go and check on McKay."

* * *

Rodney groaned as he woke up. He had already been stuck in the infirmary for a week and had Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon with him.

His team had frequently visited and talked to him, even when he was completely unconscious in the days immediately after he was injured.

Rodney began to shake and his breathing became shallow and rapid as he placed one of his hands on his abdomen and furrowed his brow.

Sheppard frowned as he asked, "Does it hurt? I could get Carson."

"No, I'm just doing this for fun!" Rodney said sarcastically through gritted teeth and then gasped as he became more alert and the pain spread out intensely.

Dr Beckett came rushing over and inserted something into Rodney's IV line. He held the man still until he relaxed and stopped fighting against the urge to writhe in agony.

"That's it lad. I know it hurts, but you're making excellent progress."

"If you say so…" Rodney said sleepily as he fell unconscious.

As Carson let go of Rodney's shoulders and straightened up Sheppard asked him, "How much longer do you think?"

"I don't know yet. We scan him every day and his injuries are healing nicely, but it will take time for him to completely recover."

Teyla asked, "Do you think he will ever completely recover?"

"Aye, the surgery was a complete success and thanks to all of your support he is getting better all the time."

Teyla smiled at him and moved her eyes back to observe the steady rise and fall of McKay's chest as his breathing finally evened out.

Ronon got up from his seat and addressed Teyla and Sheppard, "He'll be out for hours. Want to join me for lunch?"

Sheppard nodded and took his eyes off Rodney as he got up and left.

* * *

Another week later and Carson had had enough of Rodney in his infirmary. He cited harassment and constant nagging sarcasm as he signed McKay off for light duties based on Atlantis.

Although earlier that week and after two days of constant whining he had had to relent and allow McKay to have a laptop. He reasoned that the man had already self-certified himself for light duties before he had even been unleashed back onto the general population of Atlantis.

Rodney had been very upset when Sheppard told him he had asked Zelenka to go on a mission with them a few days earlier. However, he was quickly silenced when Sheppard told him it was to retrieve a downed Jumper on P3X-778 and gather some more intel about the device they found in Newall.

Rodney shuffled slowly out of the infirmary and Carson called after him, "I want you back at least once a day so we can check up on you."

"I know Carson," McKay responded in annoyance.

Carson shook his head and let Rodney go, praying the others had learnt their lesson from that fateful day and would keep an eye on the man to not let him get worn out in his weakened state.

Rodney walked into the science lab and sat down. He hunched over in the chair and grimaced as he pulled a computer towards himself. He looked around the room and at some Ancient artefacts scattered across the table. "The action never stops here…" he muttered as he picked up one of the devices and turned it over in his hand. It was round and about the size of his palm.

His eyes suddenly widened in fright and he tossed the object away to the other side of the table. It looked so much like the retrieval object Sheppard had used to pull the Ancient control device out of Newall's hand.

He sighed and took a couple of deep steadying breaths which only made his broken ribs shift painfully. He reassured himself that Newall was now on Earth, Dr Li would be back on duty soon and the Ancient device was locked securely in deep storage with warning labels all around it.

He felt a little sorry for Dr Li as he knew she and Dr Perkins had been close. Then again, he thought she probably had no idea that Perkins was such a violent man until she had seen the report about the attack. Rodney bet she was glad she had managed to get out of that one.

Rodney chuckled softly and winced. He shook his head to clear it and grabbed another piece of Ancient tech to analyse.

"Ah yes…" he muttered turning it over in his hand, "The good life…" He settled back in the chair for a relaxing and stress free day of analysing and cataloguing.

* * *

TBC

A/N – just an epilogue to go now…rapid update…ping!


	22. Epilogue

**Chapter 22 – Epilogue**

It was several weeks before Carson allowed Rodney to resume his off world duties.

The scientist had become increasingly despondent at being left behind on Atlantis every time another team went off world.

Just before his first mission he met up with Sheppard out on one of the piers. The brilliant and warm Lantean sun shone on them as they sat next to each other and gazed across the ocean.

"So how're you holding up?" Sheppard asked.

"Well you know. Bored, fed up... annoyed."

Sheppard laughed, "Wouldn't have expected any less from you."

"Oh har har!" Rodney retorted as he curled up the corner of his mouth in a snarl.

Sheppard kept smiling and then his face dropped and became more serious.

"What about all that stuff that happened to you on the planet? None of the others said you've spoken about it to anyone."

Rodney frowned, "Oh you've been talking about me have you? It's all in the report."

"I've read it, but _I_ need to know you've recovered enough to go on missions again."

Sheppard would never be able to say that it was out of worry that he had met up with McKay alone to have a talk. The man had become increasingly withdrawn over the last week or so as his physical injuries healed and his focus had shifted away from the pain he could actually feel.

McKay waved a hand in dismissal, "Sure, yes. I'm fine. Aside from the rather fetching scars and the whole 'nearly dying at the hands of a lust ridden psycho' thing."

Sheppard smiled again, the sarcasm was a true indicator that his friend was indeed getting better in every respect.

He gently patted McKay on the back, "Good enough for me."

Rodney gave him a lopsided and confused grin, "So what's our mission?"

Sheppard gazed off and tracked a slow moving wave as it passed across the sea, "Well you know, the usual trade mission that will probably end in lots of shooting and running for our lives."

McKay's smile broadened, "Sounds like more fun than data entry. I swear if I see another 'unidentified miniature Ancient artefact' one of the off world teams brings back with an enthusiastic glare of triumph as they dump it on my desk…" He trailed off and ground his teeth together.

He then turned to look at Sheppard and said quietly, "It really doesn't help that most of these 'mysterious and intriguing' objects are in actual fact bathroom components and souped up kitchen appliances… Although I have to admit the toilet flushing handle _was_ good and the toaster has proven to be a later model than the one we found on Atlantis…"

He waved his hands about in mock enthusiasm as he spoke, "Toasts in ten seconds!"

Sheppard laughed again, "Let's go and get geared up McKay. Don't want to leave the locals waiting for us now do we?"

Rodney grinned back at him and stood up easily on his own.

Sheppard watched and felt inwardly happy that McKay had made such a speedy recovery. The physical wounds were nearly healed, but as with all things; the mental ones would just take time for Rodney to get used to dealing with.

From the conversation Sheppard had just had he felt content that McKay was recovering. He now had no reason not to authorise him to rejoin the team and had to admit it had not been the same going on missions without him. They desperately needed his genius expertise at figuring out Ancient systems as fast as he could.

He patted McKay on the back again as they walked across the pier towards the transporter and into the next big adventure.

* * *

The End

A/N – That was quite a ride! I'm going off to sleep for a week now :) Hope you enjoyed this as much as I did writing it. Thanks for reading!


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